


Love Letters in the Sand (I Remember You)

by furiosity



Category: Free!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-02-07 07:37:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 64,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1890486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furiosity/pseuds/furiosity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a sleepy resort town along Japan's south-eastern coast, Aomine Daiki works in a police box. Lost valuables, people needing directions or physical assistance, crying children, the occasional bike thief or confused tourist -- it's a living. On a sunny morning in early March, shortly before the cherry blossom season, a new recruit arrives at the police box to replace a retired colleague. His name is Matsuoka Rin, and he's got a story, just like everyone else. That story is about to have unforeseen effects on Aomine's story, for better or worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry I am very trash. I know I just finished writing a Free!/KnB crossover but the Free! Eternal Summer ED and its extremely obvious crossover implication spoke to me like nothing has spoken to me in a very long time, so I made this. Thank you to [Skid Row](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO4Bb1xQHXw) for the title.
> 
> I want to say some things up front because I know people can have strong preferences when it comes to them. So! There will be cameos from Characters Not Appearing in Either of these Anime -- well, more precisely, they are references rather than cameos; I am not going to spend any time developing the characters beyond their roles in their scenes. I'm not going to like draw big sparkling arrows to them that say "LOOK THIS IS A REFERENCE TO ANOTHER ANIME!!!" if you know the characters, you'll notice, but if you don't, you probably won't even realise it's a cameo. :D I just always wanted to try my hand at a multi-verse background cast and a story set in the sort of "Anytown, Japan" that you often see in doujinshi and light novels. The fic world is a "gay is okay" kind of world: homophobia exists, but it's a weird fringe belief here rather than the norm. Nobody but those involved cares who dates whom and how, basically. So if you hate any or all of that kind of thing, please turn back now and save yourself because it's all here and I am not sorry for any of it.
> 
> Note that "suspenders" and "pants" are and will continue to be used in the American/Canadian English sense, not the British English sense. >_>

# Love Letters in the Sand (I Remember You)

"Aomine-kun, please put aside that filth you're reading and come introduce yourself to our new team member," Haruno said, poking her head into the bathroom. 

Aomine looked up from his magazine, unfazed. "It's only _Hotrod Monthly_. I'm reading about cars today."

"I don't care if you're reading about five-headed aliens from distant planets; greet your new partner properly or I'll pour this entire pot of nasty stale cold coffee down your pants instead of down the toilet." She walked inside and brandished said coffee pot.

"Jeez, you're worse than Satsuki," Aomine complained, getting up from the throne and sticking the rolled-up magazine in his back pocket. "What if I'd been taking a dump?"

Haruno rolled her eyes. "How many shifts do you think we've worked together? I know when you have to go."

Women with pink hair, man. Well, at least she didn't yell at him for not having cleaned up the coffee station last night.

Aomine edged past Haruno and turned on the tap briefly to rinse his hands -- even though he'd only been reading a magazine in here, he can't have the newbie thinking his senpai was a slob. Then he trudged out into the police box interior to find a well-muscled younger guy with red hair framing a face that was either haughty or anxious; Aomine couldn't tell. His uniform was up to code, so maybe he was the hardworking type. Which would be good. Ever since Kaburagi retired, Aomine's workload had increased from almost nothing -- Kaburagi was a hero-of-justice type who tried to do everything by himself -- to nearly everything, and it was driving him bugshit.

The newb's hair wasn't the kind of red Aomine liked; it was more… purplish. Like a very deep pink. Immaculate eyebrows, a downturned mouth, nice enough ass but nowhere near Aomine's standards. Zero reaction from either south of Aomine's waistline or the left side of his chest to any aspect of him. Well, at least that was out of the way -- this guy wasn't Aomine's type. Probably for the best: the brass discouraged workplace affairs, especially in the same district.

"I'm Aomine," he said, staring him down. "Who're you?"

"Matsuoka Rin," came the reply. "I'll be joining your team from today, senpai. Please take care of me."

"Senpai, huh? I don't mind that. You'll address me as senpai, then."

"Understood, senpai," Matsuoka said stiffly.

"Relax," Aomine said, clapping his shoulder. "Did Haruno show you around the office?"

"Yes, she did."

"Good, then I get to show you around town. Come on." Aomine fished the car keys out of his pocket. "Haruno, I'm taking the new guy for a ride; you have the floor!"

"Wait just a goddamn minute!" Haruno yelled from the bathroom.

Aomine grabbed Matsuoka's arm and dragged him out the door.

_Hotrod Monthly_ fell out of his back pocket and landed on the floor as befitted a piece of evidence to an escape.

-

"So where are you from? I haven't seen you around town before."

Matsuoka, who had been staring out of the passenger side window with interest, turned to look at him. "Iwatobi. It's a small town on the opposite coast."

"I've never heard of it before. Smaller than here?"

"One police box."

Aomine nodded. "Okay, that's small." This town had four police boxes and a fire station of its very own, even. "So how did you end up here?"

Matsuoka shrugged. "The academy said work here or don't work for another year."

"You're a real talker, huh."

Matsuoka's cheeks went a bit pink. "I dunno."

"Don't worry, in a week or so Haruno'll have you chattering nonstop like a monkey on LSD. That one hates peace and quiet. She'll make you tell her your life story until you're sick of your very own self."

"You two don't get along?"

"What are you talking about? She's the best. After Satsuki."

"Your wife?"

"My best friend."

"So did you grow up here, senpai?"

"Me? No way. I'm from Tokyo."

"How did you end up all the way out here?"

Aomine grinned at the road ahead and gripped the steering wheel tighter. It had been a while since someone had asked him that. "I was a basketball player in high school. The college up the hill scouted me but I flunked out. Joined the local academy, been here ever since. Ten years, give or take."

"Do you still play basketball?"

"Oh yeah, all the time. Strictly for fun, though."

"I was a competitive swimmer," Matsuoka said. "In high school."

"Why'd you quit?"

"I haven't. Fell short of qualifying at the national level, then money ran out. Had to find steady work. I've got a little sister in university. But I'll be trying again next year."

"So this is a temporary thing for you?" The Academy was a hell of a time commitment to make for the sake of a short-term job.

Matsuoka shook his head. "I figured, I won't be able to swim forever."

"A fall back position, huh. Not a bad choice." Aomine kinda wished he'd had that kind of foresight after high school, but back then the future had been only a suggestion. Back then, he'd also been the kind of guy who would have without hesitation asked Matsuoka if his sister was hot.

After an extended silence, Matsuoka offered, "An old friend of mine is supposed to be living in this town, but I haven't been able to get in touch with him yet. He's the cell phone hating type."

"What's his name?"

"Nanase Haruka."

"Oh, he works at the bakery. Really good doughnuts."

Matsuoka perked up so quickly, it was like seeing a different person. "You know Haru?"

"Well, to talk to. We're not friends or anything. You want to go by there, say hi?" 

Matsuoka's eyes actually sparkled. "Um, if you don't mind?"

"Doughnuts are basically part of the job, right?" 

"Are you secretly from America, senpai?"

Aomine snorted, signalled a left turn, and headed towards the roundabout. Once past there, if construction wasn't holding up traffic, it'd be five minutes to the bakery. "Anyway, what'll you do if you fail to qualify?"

"Keep trying."

"You sound like somebody I know," Aomine said, thinking of Kuroko, who was the only one out of their cohort to make it to pro basketball, in the end. "So you won't really care about police work until later, huh?" A pity. It would have been nice to have an over-eager rookie doing all the work.

"I do care," Matsuoka said. "Just not all the way."

"Well, that's good enough. Do your job, keep your head down, and you can have a nice life and swim in it too." They were passing the fire station. Aomine had never been able to drive past here without paying a visit. He should have known better and kept well away, but he'd been so engrossed in their conversation that his brain had taken him here on autopilot. It _was_ the shortest route to the overpass.

He sighed heavily. "Let's see if the fire chief is in. These guys are in our district, so you might as well show your face. _Then_ we'll get doughnuts."

The light in Matsuoka's eyes dulled a bit, but he nodded without a word. _Knows when to keep his mouth shut. Good._

Aomine parked the patrol car at the side of the fire hall, and then they walked through the visitor entrance. He let Matsuoka go in first so he could see who was around from behind him.

A tall, burly guy about Matsuoka's age was kneeling on the floor near the doorway, tying up stacks of the fire safety manuals distributed every spring at the local schools. He smiled as they entered, not really seeing them, just as a greeting.

Matsuoka froze abruptly, nearly causing Aomine to collide with him. "Whoa!"

"M-Makoto?" Matsuoka stammered.

Mr Burly looked up, and his mouth fell open. "Rin!" His soft green eyes were filled with so much guileless wonder, he could probably bottle and sell it with no detriment to his pure soul.

"Oi, I thought your friend was the baker," Aomine remarked, a little irritated. Obvious good guys made him nervous. "Now you're friends with a firefighter? What a busy guy."

"I-- "

The young fireman stood up and brushed his knees off. "I'm Tachibana Makoto," he said to Aomine. "Rin and I are childhood friends. Haru is also our friend from that time. Please, could I borrow Rin for just a little? It won't take a minute."

Aomine's darker side wanted to shut him the entire hell down -- nobody had any business being so full of goddamn sunshine -- but he just couldn't. He glanced at Matsuoka.

Matsuoka's eyes had sparkled like ten times harder a moment ago than they had at the mention of his baker friend, but suddenly his facial expression had morphed into one so carefully neutral it was almost disdainful: slightly pursed lips, lowered eyelids, upturned nose. This guy was really good at hiding his true face when he wanted to. Better even than Aomine, maybe.

"Go on, exchange phone numbers or whatever it is kids do these days," Aomine said. "I'll get the boss real quick, but then we're leaving."

Tachibana led Matsuoka towards the back of the hall, near the little table where the firefighters played tabletop games during shift downtime. He was grinning widely enough for the two of them and talking non-stop, though they had moved too far for Aomine to make out what they were saying. Matsuoka smiled back sparingly, responded in monosyllabics, but his eyes were all over Tachibana whenever he could get away with it.

Aomine had to wonder what the story was there. At any rate, he was now extra glad that Matsuoka wasn't his type: the last thing he needed in his life was yet another crush on someone who didn't want him. 

Kagami came down the metal ladder to the sleeping quarters and jumped down to the floor next to him, his boots sending up almost invisible silvery puffs of dust. "Yo."

Aomine's heart did its usual 'yes, hello, behold, Kagami has arrived in your immediate vicinity' thing: the one where it dropped down to somewhere around his ankles then pulled itself back up into his chest, thundering heavily enough to crack a rib or six. Kagami was wearing a grey t-shirt tight enough to get most people arrested for indecency and faded blue turnout pants held up by suspenders. The pants sat just low enough on his hips to make things interesting, and that was definitely against regulation: they were supposed to cinch at the waist. Fucking sexy, show-off motherfucker.

Aomine tipped the bill of his standard issue police hat slightly in Kagami's direction. "'Sup."

"What'd you want?"

"Nothing from you; came to see if the chief had time to meet our new blood."

"Chief's not here today; seminar thing in Shizuoka."

"She left _you_ in charge? I'm amazed the place is still standing."

"That your new guy?" Kagami nodded in Matsuoka's direction, ignoring the jibe completely.

"I don't know," Aomine drawled. "He's wearing the same clothes as me and carrying a firearm. Do you think he might be the Batman?"

"Asshole."

"How rude. You don't even know him."

" _You're_ an asshole," Kagami amended. "How does he know _our_ new kid?"

"Long-lost childhood friends," Aomine said with a one-armed shrug. "Television worthy stuff, really." Inwardly, he cringed. Opening his mouth around Kagami had the unfortunate side effect of making everything he said sound extra nasty.

Matsuoka pocketed a piece of paper handed to him by Tachibana and glanced in Aomine's direction with the nervous air of a man who's got a plane to board but wants to smoke one last desperate cigarette before heading into the terminal.

"Tachibana, meeting's gonna start," Kagami called. "Break it on up over there. Socialising's for off the clock."

Tachibana sketched a quick but very polite bow. "Yes, senpai, I'm very sorry!"

"Come on, rookie, those doughnuts aren't going to eat themselves!" Aomine yelled. Let Tachibana see what he was missing by not joining the police force and becoming Kagami's underling instead.

Kagami laughed. "How much of a stereotype are you?" 

"I don't want to hear that from some American," Aomine returned, committing Kagami's smiling face to memory for later.

"Who was that?" Matsuoka asked after they were out the door. "That man you were talking to?"

"Kagami Taiga. He's the lieutenant here, so basically the second-in-command."

"Friend of yours?"

"Ex of mine."

[to be continued]


	2. Chapter 2

In the common room, Sado was giving a summary of his meeting with the Firefighters' Association reps regarding volunteer recruitment, and Makoto gratefully tuned him out. He had helped Sado rehearse for this, so he'd heard the speech enough times to almost know it by heart.

Makoto relaxed into the curved plastic back of his chair and looked at the wall clock above the makeshift podium (one rusting two-drawer file cabinet stacked on top of a disused desk). With luck, the meeting would run close enough to shift change; Kagami was more permissive about free talk during meetings than the chief, who was out today. In just a couple more hours, Makoto would be free to… well. Leave work. It felt strange to look forward to it. 

Since moving here, he'd been so intent on putting the past out of mind that he'd all but forgotten what it meant to have interests outside of work. Both February and March had seen him spend all off-call time looking for busywork to occupy his thoughts. In a big firehouse like this one, there were always files to alphabetise and scan into the computer, lockers to clean out, cabinets and cupboards to fix, laundry to separate. Makoto avoided only the kitchen because he had a chef's anti-talent; he could ruin dishes just by standing next to them while they cooked. 

When not on shift or sleeping, he hung around Haru's bakery, trying to pretend that everything had simply gone back to the way it had been in Iwatobi, but they were full members of society now. Makoto suspected there would never be a signal to the start of real adulthood, imbuing him with wisdom, caution, and responsibility. He would just have to get along as best he could -- and he was trying.

Then Rin had walked into the firehouse at exactly nine twenty-seven this morning. He'd walked out eight minutes later with Makoto's heart tucked into his back pocket like a casually forgotten business card. And Makoto had stood and stared at the space Rin had occupied, wondering how it was possible to feel as though three years hadn't passed since the last time he'd watched Rin go.

_Rin puts his arms around Makoto's shoulders and holds him close, and Makoto's so stunned by his warmth that he stands frozen for the first fifteen seconds of a twenty-second hug. By the time he works up the gumption to curl his fingers against Rin's uniform jacket, Rin's moving on to Haru, who gets thirty seconds and even a few whispered words._

He hugged me first because he wanted to get me out of the way, _Makoto thinks with a pang. It doesn't matter. At least Rin didn't just pass him by._

_He knows it shouldn't mean so much, but it does. This wasn't an embrace driven by momentary emotional impulse; it had purpose behind it. Thank you for everything. See you never again. Good-bye._

_"You guys," Rin says, taking them both in. His eyes are wet, but his voice doesn't waver. "Let's swim together again one day."_

_"Yeah," Haru says with a firm nod._

_"Rin," Makoto says, because he's forgotten every other word._

_Rin's eyes meet his. Makoto tries to think of something else to say, but all that's there is '_ when will I see you again? _'._

_"Rin, our flight." Yamazaki's voice reaches them from further down the path -- he's standing there with Rin's mom and Gou as if he's part of the family._

_"Right. Well, bye," Rin says, no longer looking at Makoto, and hurries to catch up._

_Yamazaki glances backwards to glare meaningfully at Haru and Makoto both -- he probably hadn't expected them to show up right after Samezuka's graduation ceremony, or he would have tried to prevent this somehow -- and then the four of them turn the corner and vanish. At some point, Makoto's lifted his right arm as if to stretch it out and grab Rin's jacket, but Rin is gone, and he must look very silly, so he presses his hand to the part of his chest that feels emptiest. If he were to take off running right now, he could still catch up to Rin before he reaches the parking lot._

_"You won't go after him," Haru says. For once Makoto can't tell if he's disappointed or just making an observation._

_"No," Makoto says with a smile that tastes bitter. "He's got a plane to catch."_

And now here he was, spacing out in the daily meeting, wishing shift would end so he could-- what? Call Rin? No -- he would still be at work; it would only cause him trouble to get a personal call. And what would he say? _Hi, I know we just saw each other a couple of hours ago but I wanted to hear your voice?_ Makoto had no right to say such a thing to anyone, let alone Rin.

How was it possible for just one person to be so bright, so important, that the years between their meetings seemed insignificant now? It even felt as though everything that had happened to him in Kurayoshi had been just so he ended up running into Rin this morning. Makoto suppressed a sigh. He was just being fanciful. Rin could not have known where Makoto was. He'd mentioned that the police academy he'd attended assigned him here. Or maybe he'd had a choice of places but picked here because he knew Haru was here. He'd been clearly surprised to see Makoto. And what happened in Kurayoshi was Makoto's own fault, not some kind of intervention of fate so he would have to run away to where he would meet Rin again.

"Questions?" Sado asked. Makoto sat up straighter and turned his attention back to the meeting.

It ran as late as he'd hoped it would, and he was on his way to the locker room when Kagami stopped him. "Tachibana, got a minute?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Who was that guy you were with earlier?"

"A childhood friend," Makoto said. "I'm sorry for causing trouble."

"No trouble," Kagami said. "So he's new in town?"

"Yes, seems that way," Makoto said. "Please give him your guidance."

"He'll get all the guidance he wants and then some from that partner of his," Kagami said. His facial expression was hard to read -- he usually had very clear, honest eyes, but right now they were guarded.

That tall, handsome police officer had seemed good-natured enough to Makoto, the way he had invited Rin to eat doughnuts in a loud voice. He'd seen the same officer around the firehouse a couple of times, usually talking to the lieutenant. "I thought he was a friend of yours," Makoto admitted.

Kagami grinned, and the shadow fled from his eyes. "I guess so. He's a real piece of work, though. Tell your friend to be on his guard. See you Wednesday." He slapped Makoto's shoulder and kept walking towards the kitchen.

*

"Rin's in town," Haru said by way of greeting as he let Makoto into the bakery's breakroom through the deliveries door.

"Yeah, he came by the firehouse," Makoto said. Earlier, he hadn't even made the connection between doughnuts and Haru, but of course he should have known.

"Eat this while I close up for the afternoon," Haru told him and left. 

Makoto eyed the plate with suspicion: they looked like normal enough open-faced sandwiches, but the mousse piped on top of the thin cheese slices was most likely Haru's newest attempt at mackerel icing.

It was. It went well with the cheese and bread and halved black olives, but Makoto was sure the owner would never let it near so much as a single cupcake.

Haru returned with tea on a tray and watched Makoto eat the rest of the tiny sandwiches. "Do you think it'll sell?"

"On sandwiches, yes," Makoto said. "Not cake."

Haru sighed. "That's what the owner said. We're adding sandwiches to the menu."

Makoto smiled. "Well, don't give up."

"Rin liked the Bavarian cream-filled doughnuts best," Haru remarked.

Makoto gripped his tea cup tighter, even though it burned his fingers. Those were his favourite, too. Why did it matter so much?

"You still like him, don't you?"

Makoto stared at his reflection wobbling in the tea and said nothing. Lying to Haru was pointless. 

*

His cell phone was ringing on the bedside table, and Makoto dragged it to his ear. He expected the lieutenant's voice and an emergency on the other end, but it was Rin. Which was also an emergency, but not the terrible sort.

"Rin," Makoto mumbled, rubbing his eyes frantically with the back of his free hand. "Hi. I was sleeping." _Oh no._ He'd meant it as an explanation for why he didn't pick up right away, but it sounded like a complaint, didn't it?

"Oh. My bad. I'll, um-- I'll let you go."

"No, no. I needed to wake up to, uh--," Makoto looked at his alarm clock: ten thirty, "--watch the eleven o'clock news. So you really helped me out."

"You should just record things like that instead of waking up to watch them, jeez," Rin said.

"I don't have one of those fancy box things," Makoto explained. "I probably wouldn't know how to work it anyway."

"I can show you if you want."

"That would really help me out." Makoto imagined Rin in his apartment, fiddling with a set-top box and DVR, and resolved that he would buy whatever equipment he needed to make this happen. He'd even use a credit card if he had to.

"We didn't get to talk, earlier," Rin said. "You became a firefighter after all."

"Yeah." Makoto wished he could tell Rin all about the training, the exams, and the year and a bit that he'd worked in Kurayoshi, but that would mean having to explain why he'd left. "I was surprised to see you in police uniform, though."

"I didn't quit swimming," Rin said, a little defensive.

"I know. Too bad about that qualifier."

"You heard about that?"

Makoto had not only heard about it; he'd written to Rin's sponsor to try and convince them not to drop him so quickly. But he was never going to tell Rin that. "Uh-huh. You just had bad luck."

Rin _tsk_ ed. "No such thing." But he sounded pleased. "So how come your phone number changed?"

"My little sister Ran wanted her own phone that she didn't have to share with Ren. That's my little brother."

"Yeah, I remember."

"The family plan only allowed four devices, so I gave her my phone and got my own plan. I was moving out anyway." Makoto pressed the speaker button on his phone so he could look at Rin's picture while they talked. It was an old one, from a joint practice they'd had at Iwatobi in their second year of high school. Rin was smiling, but not at the camera.

"So you went to some kind of a firefighter academy?"

"There isn't anything like that," Makoto said. He loved this photo of Rin, but he hoped he could take a newer one soon. Rin wouldn't stay here for long, and he wanted proof that they'd seen each other again. "I had to take first aid classes and pass a physical endurance test. Then I just worked at a firehouse as a trainee until our chief decided I was ready."

"Maybe that's what I should've done," Rin said. "Police school took two years."

"Well, it's more complicated, being police, right? You have to do profiling and stuff."

"I'm not a detective," Rin said. Makoto could hear wry exasperation in his voice, as if he'd already explained this a million times. "I just help old ladies across the street and write parking tickets."

"But if you catch someone doing something bad, you have to arrest them, right?"

"Depends on what they're doing. Sometimes it's fine to let them off with a warning."

"See, I would just let everyone go, then. Arresting people sounds scary."

Rin laughed. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

Makoto didn't want to disappoint Rin, so he just made a noncommittal noise. They fell silent, and Makoto let the phone drop by the side of his head. He was so happy Rin had called he never wanted the call to end, but it seemed there was no 'safe' subject for them to talk about. Makoto's thoughts kept returning to the secret he was keeping, and the paralysing fear of what would happen if anyone found out.

Rin's voice broke into his thoughts. "Hey, so can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Haru told me you just moved here a couple of months ago."

"Yes, that's right. Just after the New Year." Makoto's jaw tightened. Rin wasn't going to ask why Makoto had moved, was he? Could Haru have put him up to this? Haru knew Makoto would tell Rin anything he wanted, if Rin only asked. Haru had never once asked about Kurayoshi after Makoto had told him he didn't want to talk about it, but it was obvious he hadn't given up on finding out. Still, it wasn't like Haru. He was the only person who had always known how Makoto felt about Rin. He wouldn't take advantage of that for a selfish reason.

On the other end of the line, Rin cleared his throat. "Did you move here to... be with Haru?"

Makoto bit his lip and smiled sadly to himself. It was pretty clear what kind of _being_ Rin had in mind here. "No. Haru-- I mean, we're best friends."

Rin exhaled. "So you're not-- um. Are you seeing anyone?"

Makoto blinked. "Me? No."

"Oh. Well, good night."

"Good night," Makoto said automatically, and realised Rin had hung up. _What on earth just happened?_

[tbc]


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, did you ever hook up with that cute firefighter from the other day or what?" Aomine asked by way of greeting when he walked into the police box on Friday morning.

One corner of Matsuoka's mouth twitched, but he didn't look up from the daily bulletin. "That's hardly any of your business, senpai."

"Is he playing hard to get? Sorry to hear that."

Matsuoka glared at him. "Excuse you."

"Don't bother with the formalities, Matsuoka-kun; just throw things at his head," Haruno advised from behind her desk. She'd taken off her cap and was pencilling in her eyebrows in front of a little stand-mirror.

"I'm pretty sure that would be considered violence in the workplace," Matsuoka deadpanned. Aomine had to admit he was fitting in pretty nicely so far. 

"It's not violence if he deserves it," Haruno said. "Aomine-kun, it's your Friday to bring treats, by the way. I hope you didn't forget again."

"Calm your tits; I brought doughnuts." Aomine set the plastic-bagged box down next to the coffee maker. He turned to Matsuoka. "I even remembered the ones you liked the other day, so be grateful, little punk." 

He'd actually gone by the bakery to see if he could find anything out about this Tachibana character who flustered Matsuoka so much -- it was hard to needle a blank slate -- but Nanase had rebuffed all attempts at small talk. Aomine hadn't yet figured out if he was kind of antisocial or very skilled at discerning people's motives.

Matsuoka scratched his cheek with a vaguely sheepish cast to his eyes. "I don't actually like sweet things all that much, so please don't bother on my account in the future, senpai."

Aomine frowned in puzzlement. He distinctly remembered Matsuoka praising the Bavarian cream-filled doughnuts to the high heavens. Then he recalled what Nanase had said before telling Matsuoka to try them. _Those are Makoto's favourite._

Aomine's expression morphed into a wide grin. "So... you said you liked them because you wanted your baker friend to tell the cute firefighter you had the same favourite?"

The tops of Matsuoka's cheeks turned a faint pink. "That's nonsense. Out of all of them, they _were_ my favourite. I just didn't want to hurt Haru's feelings."

"Oh no, that's cute," Haruno said with a good-natured chortle. She came over to the coffee machine and opened the doughnut box.

"Young people are so adorable," Aomine chimed in.

"You two aren't that much older," Matsuoka muttered with a sulky expression. "Anyway, quit sticking your nose into my business, Aomine-senpai."

"Small town life has turned Aomine-kun here into a first-rate gossip," Haruno told him through a mouthful of double chocolate doughnut. "Take care you don't turn out like him."

Aomine made a face at her. "Look who's talking." 

He wasn't a gossip. He just liked knowing things. It was practically his job to know things, really. If some truly hideous crime were to happen in town, he'd probably know who'd done it without leaving the police box. Knowing things meant he got to do less work.

For all Matsuoka's apparent outrage, he ate his share of the doughnuts as the morning wore on and he got stuck listening to an elderly lady's roundabout account of how her favourite potted succulent kept losing leaves whenever she put it outside for some much-needed real sun. The office cat showed up about halfway through the story. As Aomine poured Yoruichi a little bit of cream from the mini-fridge -- Friday treats weren't just for humans around here -- he could've sworn that she looked kind of guilty of plant vandalism.

Around midday, Haruno took Matsuoka out on patrol, leaving Aomine to deal with one lost wallet, one fight between two pocket sized dogs, four agitated tourists from Sapporo who had been promised cherry blossoms if they travelled this far south, and two bicycle theft reports. He passed the time between incidents by rewatching a few basketball games he'd snuck onto the work computer's hard drive after the last purge of unauthorised materials by the IT department. Haruno and Matsuoka came back late in the afternoon, bearing bowls of pudding they'd received as thanks for booting some rowdy teenagers out of a convenience store. Some Tokyo fad from a few months back had finally hit the town, and the so-called Dollars were trying to cause trouble everywhere. Fancied themselves a form of organised crime gang even though their offenses culminated in skateboarding too close to dumpsters.

A truck from headquarters dropped off next week's batch of files to be scanned into the computer and converted to searchable text. The big cities were delegating computerisation to the quieter areas, since there wasn't all that much to do otherwise. Aomine cheerfully stacked all six boxes on a protesting Matsuoka's desk and clocked out as soon as the night shift guy came through the door.

Aomine's apartment was a medium-sized room-plus-kitchen-plus-bath in a building next door to the police dormitory, which was mandatory housing for officers with less than two years in the service. Most of Aomine's building housed cops, too -- moving close to the dorms after the mandatory two years kept moving costs low, and HQ encouraged intra-force socialising as much as it frowned on intra-force hanky-panky.

When Aomine got up to the third floor and let himself inside, something smelled amazing, and the clothes he had left lying around all week were gone from the floor. Kagami must have come by, as was his habit every week or so.

Aomine locked the door, took off his shoes, lifted the lid of the pot on the electric burner: beef curry. The rice cooker was in keep-warm mode. He shrugged out of his uniform jacket and draped it onto the back of the fat video game armchair. Then he noticed Kagami sleeping on the couch, and his heart did the thing with the swooping and the leaping.

Kagami never warned him in advance he'd be coming -- he usually showed up while Aomine was at work, so most of the time Aomine arrived to find only food and a note written in Kagami's childish handwriting. _Don't put it in the fridge until it cools,_ it would say. Or _your fridge was a disaster so I cleaned it_. Or _buy some groceries that aren't beer, idiot_. Aomine kept them all hidden in an old portfolio from his college days.

But today Kagami was right here, stretched out on the couch they'd bought together just a few months before breaking up. Aomine had joked that it was a good thing the couch was big enough for either one of them: that way it could function as the doghouse when they had a fight. In the end, they hadn't had a chance to fight even once before Kagami left him. Since then, both the oversized couch and the queen-sized bed that took up most of the floor space in this tiny apartment felt like the goddamned doghouse.

Heart pounding, Aomine slid down onto the floor in the space between the coffee table and the couch, leaned his right temple against the couch cushion, and stretched his legs out across the rug beneath the table. He stared at Kagami's hand hanging off the side of the couch, making no move to touch it even though he wanted to. Kagami got annoyed if Aomine touched him when awake, so he'd hit the roof if Aomine tried anything with him asleep. 

The pad of paper Kagami used for the notes lay on the coffee table. He must have sat down to write one and nodded off -- probably worked more than three shifts again. Slowly, Aomine's heartbeat evened out, and the familiar sound of Kagami's sleep-breathing relaxed him into a blissful doze, a half sleep where nothing hurt. If he stayed like this, he could almost pretend they still lived together.

He was startled awake by the sound of Kagami's voice, though he didn't know what he'd said. Aomine rubbed his neck and glanced towards the window that faced the hallway outside: the sun was almost done for the day, so he'd been drifting for about an hour.

Kagami was sitting upright now, so Aomine wasted no time in clambering up onto the couch to rest his head in Kagami's lap, even though he knew he'd get kicked off in about thirty seconds. 

Kagami pinched Aomine's nose between two knuckles. "I'm not a pillow."

"You hab de weekedd off?" Aomine asked in a low-pitched chipmunk voice.

Kagami gave a short laugh. "Yeah. Four shifts in a row this week."

"Leggo by dose," Aomine whined. "Iz uddigdified."

Kagami released his nose, still grinning. "You're already wearing the summer shirts to work?" he asked, nodding at Aomine's uniform sleeves. "It's March."

"All my other shirts are in the wash," Aomine admitted.

Kagami sighed. "Loser. Why do I even bother asking you these things?"

"I know why. It's because you love me," Aomine declared, making a one-armed grab for Kagami's waist.

"Quit it," Kagami said, shoving him away.

Aomine sat back up and scooted to the side before Kagami could force him off the couch completely. "Fine, fine. Blame a guy for trying." _If it's not true, why don't you ever deny it?_

"More importantly, your newbie is so pretty. Are you gonna date him?"

Aomine's stomach did a backflip; he hated it when Kagami said nice things about other people. Especially if they were true. "Aww, you hung around just to ask me that? How sweet. Anyway, he's into someone."

"It's not our Tachibana, is it?"

Aomine perked up. "Why?"

"Tachibana starts shaking like a wet kitten and knocking things over if you so much as suggest dating to him. My guess is a bad break-up."

"Can't be any worse than ours."

Kagami glowered. "Shut up. I'm going home."

Aomine knew better than to try and stop him: if he did, Kagami wouldn't come over for at least a month. Even after a year and a half since their break-up, standoffish Kagami was better than no Kagami. Would Aomine ever stop feeling this way? He used to believe he never wanted to, but lately, after so many failed attempts to get Kagami back, he often caught himself thinking something had to give.

"Don't skip practice tomorrow or I'll kick you off the team," Kagami said before opening the front door. "And do your laundry."

The usual words pooled in Aomine's mouth like blood from a badly split lip. _Leave the keys, Kagami. Let's move on._

Only Aomine didn't want to move on, for all that he knew that it would be better for both of them. Not yet. So this time, like every time, he said nothing and went to the doorway to watch Kagami go. He stood there long after Kagami had descended the stairs, crossed the still-noisy playground, and vanished into the streets. Gooseflesh covered his arms -- it _was_ too cold for short sleeves.

One of these days, Kagami would pause before opening the door and hang the keys on the empty hook by the shoe rack. He wouldn't make eye contact to make sure Aomine had seen; he'd just walk out like always, like it wasn't forever. But with the keys on the hook, it would be forever. It would be time to move on.

"Looks about to be a lovely evening, doesn't it?"

Aomine started. His next-door neighbour, Kirigakure, had walked out into the corridor and was leaning on the railing with her elbows, her long red, gold-tipped ponytail thrown over her shoulder and dangling overboard.

"I'm surprised _you're_ still home on a Friday," he said and leaned next to her. The metal was so cold it gave his already frozen forearms a shock. "Shouldn't you be out drinking?"

"My -- err, let's call him cousin, from Tokyo -- was supposed to get into town tonight, so I blew my buddies off. But his boss suddenly postponed the trip, and I don't want to be the asshole who cancels plans and then shows up anyway."

Aomine smirked. "Cousin, huh?"

"It's kinda complicated. He's a cop too, by the way. Anyway, we going drinking or what?"

"Yeah, I guess you'll do for tonight," Aomine said with a sigh. He'd walked right into that one.

"Oh please, like you aren't going to get blitzed and cry about your boyfriend the whole time."

Aomine gave her a sideways shove. "Ex-boyfriend."

"Coulda fooled me."

[tbc]


	4. Chapter 4

"Excuse me, Mr Firefighter, can you help me?"

Makoto, who had been inspecting the third fire engine's supply cabinet and trying not to daydream, poked his head out to find a serious-faced little boy addressing Kagami. He was so tiny that he had to tilt his head nearly all the way back just to look Kagami in the eye.

Kagami crouched down next to the boy. "What do you need?"

"Pochi is stuck!" 

Kagami underwent the strangest change for a brief instant: his eyes widened with alarm, and his upper body shrank back from the boy just a little. Makoto could have sworn he looked… scared? Why in the world?

"I'm not crying!" the little boy announced, apropos of nothing. His lower lip started to quiver.

"It's okay even if you cry," Makoto called, walking over. "What's your name?"

"T-Tsubaki," the boy replied with a sniff. "Tsubaki Sasuke. I'm _five_."

"How about Pochi? How old is Pochi?" Makoto asked.

"Nine weeks," Tsubaki said. "He's still little."

"And where is he stuck?" Kagami piped up.

"Up a tree next to my house," Tsubaki said, pointing. "It's just across the street."

"Your dog climbed a tree?" Kagami asked with renewed alarm in his voice. "I didn't know they could do that." His tone was the sort a person would take when talking about ghostly apparitions, and Makoto realised that Kagami's earlier reaction _had_ been fear, but not of the little boy.

"Pochi isn't a dog," Tsubaki said. "He's an owl."

"Say that in the first place!" Kagami said, sounding kind of petulant.

The boy blinked at him. "Are you really a grown-up?"

Kagami laughed. "Hey!"

"Now, now, why don't I take this ladder and you show us where Pochi is, Tsubaki-kun?" Makoto offered. "Lieutenant, will you come, or should I ask Tatsumi-san?"

Lawsuits involving rescue workers were on the rise throughout Japan, and most local governments were reacting by requiring a supervisor to be present at every active encounter with the public, no matter how minor.

"I'll go," Kagami said. "You said it was across the street, right?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Can you really get him down?"

"Of course," Makoto said.

"Tatsumi!" Kagami yelled up towards the sleeping quarters.

"What?"

"Tachibana and I will be back in ten; the house is yours."

"Okay, I'll be sure not to burn it down!" Tatsumi responded. She had a strange sense of humour.

"How did you decide to keep an owl?" Makoto asked Tsubaki as they waited for the light to change, collapsed ladder balanced on his and Kagami's shoulders.

"I'm not really keeping him," Tsubaki said. "His mom got into a fight with a crow and died, and the crow ate Pochi's two siblings, but my brother drove it away before it could eat Pochi too. We're just helping him a little until he can fly by himself."

Makoto was a little taken aback that a five-year old would talk so casually about what must have been horrifying when it happened. But Tsubaki just sounded as if he witnessed such things every day. Kids were amazing; Makoto wished he had that kind of mental resilience.

The light changed, and the three of them set off again.

"Why is he stuck, anyway?" Kagami asked. "If he's an owl, he can fly, right?"

"Pochi can't fly yet -- he doesn't know how.That's how he got stuck! Stupid Yuusuke put him on the branch outside our bedroom window, and poor Pochi doesn't know how to get down."

"Hey now, don't call your brother names," Makoto chided. "He was trying to help."

Tsubaki gave him a suspicious look. "You sound like our dad."

"That's because I'm a grown-up," Makoto told him. "All the grown-ups in the world sound the same until you become one."

"And maybe even then," Kagami piped up, then pointed to a tall maple next to a house. A little boy who looked exactly like Tsubaki sat underneath it, looking dejected. "Is this it?"

*

"Let's go by the convenience store and get some snacks," Kagami said after they took their leave of the rescued owlet and his tiny caretakers. "I think we're running out of cup noodles, too."

Makoto thought it would have been easier if they just took the ladder back and then went for snacks, but he wasn't about to argue with his boss. "I ordered a box of those the other day through head office, so they should be arriving soon."

"Right, I always forget that you can do that," Kagami said, looking sheepish. "And then the chief yells at me."

Makoto didn't say anything -- he didn't know what to say. His lieutenant at the firehouse in Kurayoshi had been an old, hard-faced type who thought firefighting was practically a military organisation. It was strange to have a boss who treated his subordinates like people. Kagami never hesitated to shout at people who did something wrong, but he was never mean.

"Anyway, you got kids or something?" Kagami asked. "You seemed to know how to handle those two boys."

"No, not me," Makoto said, adjusting the ladder on his shoulder. "I grew up with two younger siblings, so I'm just used to being a substitute parent."

When they came out of the convenience store, bags full of drinks and snacks secured to their belts so they could still carry the ladder, Kagami stopped very suddenly and stared out at the street

Makoto followed his gaze. That handsome officer from the other day -- Aomine -- stood on the other side of the street, next to a parked car, writing a ticket. His heartbeat sped up at the sight of the blue uniform, and he looked around eagerly for Rin. But unless Rin had shrunk in height and dyed his hair a soft cherry blossom pink since the last time Makoto had seen him, Aomine was partnered up with someone else today. The other officer was standing next to Aomine, acting agitated about whatever he was writing on that ticket.

He looked back at Kagami and realised with a start that Kagami's expression was incredibly familiar to him. His jaw set tight, his eyes regretful, like a man thinking about what he could never have.

"Did something happen with Aomine-san?" Makoto blurted out. He hadn't meant to. but he'd just been thinking about how nice Kagami was, and he couldn't help but commiserate. He knew exactly what Kagami was feeling because he'd been feeling nothing else since Rin had shown up.

"We used to go out," Kagami said without taking his eyes off Aomine.

"Oh," Makoto said. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise."

Aomine said something to the pink-haired officer, and she threw her pen at him. It bounced off his chest and started falling to the ground, but he caught it lightning-quick. Makoto had never seen anyone move so fast on dry land.

"Wow," he breathed.

"Yeah," Kagami echoed, his attention still fully on Aomine.

Aomine twirled the pen in front of the other officer's nose and then stuck it behind his ear. She snatched it back and said something that made him laugh, and then the two of them set off towards the cruiser parked further down the road.

"Don't give me that look," Kagami said, catching Makoto's eye. "I was the one who ended it, so you don't need to feel sorry for me."

"My apologies for being presumptuous," Makoto said, flushing. He was feeling sorry for himself more than anyone, but Kagami couldn't know that.

All the way back to the firehouse, he tried to puzzle out why a person who was obviously in love might end a relationship with the person they loved. It made his own hopeless situation seem pleasant by comparison.

*

The doorbell rang, and Makoto ducked into the bathroom quickly to make sure his hair hadn't turned into an unkempt small animal since the last time he'd seen it (about five minutes ago). When Rin had texted him to ask his apartment number and said he would come get him before they headed downtown to meet with Haru, Makoto had just about had a minor meltdown. He'd had no idea that Rin lived just a street away in the police dormitory, though of course in retrospect he should have realised it. This neighbourhood had been built with the intent of housing public employees from all over the district, and though the land had been privatised long ago, the buildings were still on long-term lease to the government, and most newcomers ended up here.

The doorbell chimed again. "Makoto? It's Rin."

Makoto rushed out and tore the door open so quickly he nearly lost his balance, but managed to right himself against the wall before ending up on his backside. "Sorry," he said. "I, um, I got distracted."

"Can I come in?" Rin asked. "I want to see our place."

Makoto stared at him, unsure of what to say.

Rin's face turned crimson. "Your place, I mean."

"If you'd like to be my roommate, all you have to do is ask," Makoto teased.

"Shut up," Rin said, stepping out of his shoes and delivering a soft blow to Makoto's shoulder with his own. "I have to live in a damn dormitory for two years before I'm allowed to move out."

"That's a police thing?"

"Yeah. I'm so sick of living in dorms, you have no idea. I haven't had a room of my own since middle school."

Makoto frowned. "Your roommate isn't nice?"

"Roommates, plural," Rin said. "Four of us to a room. And it's not them, they're okay. I just miss privacy."

"That sounds tough," Makoto said. He could relate, to some extent -- he hadn't known privacy was a thing until he'd moved to Kurayoshi; energetic younger siblings would do that. "Maybe if you do a really good job and advance quickly in ranks, they'll let you move out?"

"I doubt it," Rin said. "When it comes to procedure, Japanese institutions can be really set in their ways. Did I ever tell you about my night in the women's dormitory at the Academy?"

"I-- what?" Makoto didn't know when Rin would have had time to tell him such a thing, anyway. They hadn't really had time to talk.

"Yeah, some pencil pusher wasn't paying attention when they filed my application paperwork and assumed I was a woman because of my name," Rin said, rolling his eyes a little. "So I get to my assigned dorm room and find two women playing a game of strip poker for one of the bottom bunks."

"Oh, wow," Makoto said, cringing a little. "They must've been so embarrassed!"

"Actually, they threw beer bottles at me and called me names," Rin said. "Then one of them took pity because she could tell I wasn't interested, and took me to the dorm mother. She pulled up my paperwork, which listed my sex as female."

Makoto imagined the scene that must have been Rin looking at his official police paperwork that declared him female and couldn't help smiling. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands. It surely hadn't been a laughing matter at the time.

"Even though they could tell I wasn't female, they couldn't put me in the men's dormitory because my paperwork said I was female," Rin continued. "So I slept in the waiting room to the dorm mother's office. The next day, she called someone to fix the paperwork and it all got worked out."

As Rin talked, he walked around Makoto's tiny little living space, glancing to and fro with interest. When he got to the window, he squinted a bit, then grinned at Makoto and called him over.

"I can see our balcony," Rin said excitedly, pointing to the high-rise on the other side of the playground. It was also across another street, but that wasn't obvious from the seventh floor. "See, the one with the green bathrobe hanging to the side? Komaba wears it when he goes out to smoke at night."

Makoto stepped next to him to look, and his mouth went dry. Rin's proximity, the sharp but subtle scent of his aftershave, the sound of his voice so near -- for the first time in months, Makoto's heart was escaping his ribcage. He longed to get even closer. He was _happy_ that he could have such a reaction -- he'd been afraid that after Kurayoshi, he'd lost all interest in physical intimacy. Then again, he'd also thought he'd never fall for anyone again, and Rin had fixed that just by showing up. But it didn't matter how he felt.

"So you're in that building over there, huh," he said, just to occupy his mind with something other than intrusive, feverish thoughts of kissing Rin's neck directly beneath the faux-shark-tooth choker he wore.

"Something wrong?" Rin asked.

Makoto backed away as far as he could without making it look deliberate. "No, no. We, uh. We should probably start heading out if we don't want to miss the bus." He wished they could've stayed here. He would have gladly spend the whole night asking Rin about what he'd been doing all this time they'd been apart. But Rin was Haru's friend, too, and Makoto had no right to try and monopolise him. Haru probably wanted to know all about Rin's adventures just as much.

"Right," Rin said with a slight frown.

As they walked downstairs and through the playground to the main street, Makoto told Rin a few things about the neighbourhood: where to get uniforms dry-cleaned cheaper, when the time sales were at the nearby larger supermarkets, the haunted paintball range, stuff like that.

"What are you doing next week?" Rin asked as they neared the bus stop.

"Let's see, I'm on shift Tuesday and Wednesday, off Thursday, then on shift again Friday and Saturday."

Rin sighed. "No, I mean when you're free."

"Sunday? I was going to do laundry--"

"Let's go to the movies," Rin interrupted. "On Sunday."

"Haru doesn't like theatres; he says they make him feel weird."

"I'm not inviting Haru," Rin said with obvious exasperation. "I'm asking you."

Makoto peered at him. "Rin, are you and Haru fighting about something _already_?"

Rin exhaled loudly and stopped in front of Makoto, blocking his way, his eyes ablaze. Makoto, thoroughly bewildered, looked around for an escape route, but there were none he could take without making it obvious he was escaping.

"Haru and I aren't fighting, but never mind him," Rin said. "I want to go with you. Just you."

"B-But why--?" Makoto began, and then he realised what Rin meant. " _Oh_. A d-date?"

" _Obviously_ ," Rin said, relaxing a little. "Why else would I want you alone, jeez."

Makoto knew it was impossible. He knew that as soon as Rin found out about Kurayoshi, everything would be finished, but couldn't he -- at least for just a little bit -- pretend like they had a chance? He didn't really understand why Rin wanted to go out with him of all people, but he wasn't about to think too deeply on it. Not when it was probably his one chance to make some happy memories with Rin that would be his alone, not shared with all their friends. 

There was no way in the world he was going to _reject_ Rin; that wasn't even a question. He had just never imagined that Rin would be interested enough to ask him first. Rin would be done with him soon enough. Until then, Makoto would try to make him happy.

"Okay," he said, smiling for all he was worth. "Let's go to the movies together, Rin. Just us."

[tbc]


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you looking so happy about this early in the morning again?" Aomine asked Matsuoka. 

Whereas normal people usually arrived to work more and more worn down every day as the week wore on, Matsuoka's mood had seemed to improve with each passing day. This morning -- Matsuoka's Friday for treats; his very first one -- he showed up with a huge box of sugar cookies, his eyes sparkling. Aomine could practically see a bushy tail protruding from his tailbone.

"It's a date, isn't it?" Aomine insisted after having tried a cookie. "You got yourself a date with Hot Stuff from the firehouse, didn't you? Is it today?"

"Not that it's any of your business, senpai--" Matsuoka began, but the door to the police box swung open and a red-haired foreigner with a face full of freckles stepped inside.

"Do you speak English?" he inquired, studying each of their faces in turn.

Haruno hid behind her fashion magazine. Aomine sighed. He could understand it well enough, but speaking, forget it. Besides, this foreigner had a different way of speaking than Americans did. 

"I speak English," Matsuoka said. "How can I help?"

"I left my wan-- er, my… _mobile telephone_ at the hotel, Herm-- ah, my wife said not to use it except in emergencies, and I, uh, I'm lost, I haven't got any Mug- uh, money, and I don't know a word of Japanese."

"Where are you trying to go?" Matsuoka asked, grabbing a pocket guide to the town. The stack had dwindled to just five or six, but once tourist season really started, they'd get a full shelf's worth. 

"It's called the Pleasant Dreams inn. One of the ones up on the hill?"

Matsuoka looked at Aomine. "Senpai--?"

"You know it, it's the one with the horse statue out front," Aomine said.

Matsuoka nodded and pulled the fold-out map out of the guide, grabbing a pen off his desk. "It's just a ten minute walk," he said as he drew the route right on the map, then handed the pocket guide to the tourist. "Would you like to use the phone to call your wife before you leave?"

"Ah, no, no, thanks, I'll be fine with the map. I'll just go right back. Thank you! Bye!"

"Must be one hell of a wife," Aomine remarked after the stranger backed out the door with panic in his eyes.

"Never mind his wife, that was _amazing_ , Matsuoka-kun!" Haruno said, slapping both hands down on her desk, her magazine cast aside. "Where did you learn to speak English like that?"

"I spent a few years in Australia when I was a kid," Matsuoka explained.

"Lucky," she said, settling back down with her magazine. "I'd rather have learned English than shuriken techniques."

"That's enough about your childhoods; I believe Matsuoka was about to tell me something," Aomine cut in. "Weren't you?"

"You know, I think I'll go make sure that guy gets to his hotel safely," Matsuoka said and darted out the door before Aomine could continue the interrogation.

Aomine glared at Haruno in lieu of Matsuoka. She offered a phlegmatic shrug and took a sugar cookie from her plate. "He's got a point. Who knows what might happen in those mean streets out there."

"You're enjoying this way too much," Aomine said accusingly. "Always taking his side."

"It's been a while since you've shown an interest in someone other than your ex. I'm just keeping the fire stoked."

"I don't want to sleep with Matsuoka," Aomine said. "So even if who I sleep with were any of your business, there'd be nothing to stoke."

"I know you don't want to sleep with him. But you're paying attention to him and his cute crush. Maybe you can graduate to having a cute crush of your own on someone."

*

"Here we are, home sweet home," Satsuki said, rooting around in Aomine's jacket pocket for his keys. "In you go."

She half-dragged him across the floor and dumped him on the couch. "I'll just put your keys right there on the counter," she said before heading for the door.

"No, not the keys," Aomine called. The keys were important. The keys shouldn't be left behind. If she left the keys, she wouldn't come back. She wouldn't be able to. As soon as the door shut, the lock engaged. It was automatic. So would be bad if Satsuki left the keys.

 _No, that's Kagami. Kagami can't leave the keys. Satsuki is fine._ "Satsuki."

"What is it, Dai-chan?" Satsuki had just sat down in the front to put her shoes back on.

"Did I drink too much again?"

"You did. Now I'll be home late, and Ricchan's going to be so mad at me."

Aomine sighed. "At least you have someone waiting for you."

Satsuki put her shoes aside, walked back inside, and knelt next to the couch with a deep sigh. "Dai-chan, can you please stop doing this to yourself? He's not worth it."

"Haruno said that too."

"She did? I thought she was a Kagami fan."

"Not in so many words, but yeah."

Satsuki patted his arm. "I know you think we're all just a bunch of meddling women--"

"I don't really," Aomine interrupted. "I just say that because--"

Satsuki put a hand over his mouth. "You're very drunk, Dai-chan. Don't say things you'll regret. Anyway, if you won't listen to me, listen to Sakura-san, okay?" She got back up and headed to the door.

"Tell Yachiru I said hi," Aomine said to her retreating back. "Riko too."

"I will, Dai-chan. Sleep well!"

Aomine got up, staggered in darkness towards the bed, removed his jacket, but then his energy ran out. He set the jacket down next to Kagami's side of the bed and lay down fully clothed. He tried closing his eyes, but the world kept spinning, and he was sure he would fall off the bed if he didn't watch what he was doing. He moved back to his own side of the bed to see if the spinning would be different there, but it wasn't. His stomach roiled, and Aomine opened his eyes again. In the gloom, he could almost make out the outline of Kagami sitting on the other side of the bed, quiet, his shoulders hunched.

 _"Hey, when did you get back?" Aomine asks, reaching out for Kagami. His fingers brush against Kagami's T-shirt, and Kagami_ flinches _. Later, Aomine will remember that movement, how reflexive it was, how it foretold the future._

_"Didn't mean to wake you," Kagami says. "Sorry."_

_Aomine frowns. Something's wrong. It's in Kagami's voice, in his tense back, in the way he still hasn't looked at Aomine's face. "What's with you? Did something bad happen in Tokyo?"_

_Kagami exhales. "I slept with Kise."_

Aomine squeezed his eyes shut, and the vertigo hit him so hard he had to sit up and rub his eyes vigorously. He never wanted to remember that day, and usually he managed to distract himself from it, but when it came rushing back like this, all he could do was resign himself to go through it again. His stomach rolled.

His first reaction had been stunned disbelief -- not about the Kise part; Kise was always wanting to knock Aomine down a peg or twelve. It was to be expected that he'd try his luck with Aomine's man, especially since that man happened to be Kagami. Aomine had always been aware of the effect Kagami had on people; he was, after all, not immune to said effect. He'd just denied it much longer than most. 

What Aomine couldn't believe was that in their relationship, _Kagami_ had been the one to fuck up first.

Kagami had been thoroughly miserable about it and kept apologising, but he hadn't tried making any excuses for his behaviour or absolving himself of responsibility. Yes, they'd gone out drinking together, but no, he hadn't been so drunk he didn't know what he was doing. His inhibitions had been lowered enough to decide he wanted to try what it was like with someone who wasn't Aomine. Aomine had been his first, in every respect. He'd been curious, Kise had been very charming and insistent, and it happened.

_"So what happens now?" Aomine asks_

_"I'll move out," Kagami says, and Aomine can't believe what he's hearing. He wants to fucking punch Kagami in his stupid, sad face -- he's had the whole weekend to come to terms with what he did and think about this conversation. Aomine is just getting blindsided left and right, and he hates it. But he hates the idea of breaking up even more._

_"Shouldn't I be the one to decide that?" he asks, barely managing to keep his voice even._

_Kagami looks at him, and it's that earnest face, the same face he had when he told Aomine he loved him, and he breaks Aomine's heart with the same fucking face, and it isn't fair. "If I really loved you, this wouldn't have happened. I want you to be with someone who really loves you, not someone like me."_

_"You made... a mistake--" Aomine begins, and then he realises the absurdity of what he's about to say. Is he really going to defend what Kagami did? Did this… relationship turn him into someone pathetic enough to hear_ I don't love you _and beg the other person to try and love him anyway?_

_He wants Kagami to take it back. He wants a do-over, a rewind of the last twenty minutes of his life. He wants to wake up all in a sweat with the same hot tears on his face, but to realise he'd been having a vivid nightmare, and that Kagami's asleep next to him, that he's never gone anywhere at all._

Aomine's throat had gone dry. He got up from the bed and made his unsteady way to the fridge for some Pocari. He poured it above the sink; his hands were so shaky from all that vodka that only half what came out of the bottle made it into the glass. Enough time had passed since that night that he could think of it with some amount of detachment, like it had happened to someone else, or to him, but in a dream. He wasn't sad about it any more, or even angry. He'd made his peace with what Kagami had done.

Aomine hadn't taken it in any sort of stride to begin with, naturally. There had been shouting matches, and punches had been thrown. He'd gleefully, deliberately tried to hit every last one of Kagami's pain buttons, just to make him hurt the way Aomine was hurt. He had driven the cruiser two hours up the coast to toss Kagami's stupid friendship ring into the ocean, and told Kagami so when he'd come back to the apartment from the hotel he'd been staying at to start packing for the move. Aomine had gone out and fucked half the single and interested people in town; he probably would have started on the other half if he hadn't ended up with a bad case of chlamydia. After that had cleared up, he'd realised that no one but Kagami would do.

He'd gone to Kagami's place to try and make up, but Kagami had had enough abuse by that point and hadn't even let Aomine in. Aomine's extended temper tantrum had done more damage to their relationship than Kagami's single indiscretion ever could have. Aomine didn't give up: he kept trying to talk to Kagami, to apologise, at least. Then one day last summer he had come home to folded laundry, a chicken pot pie, and the first of the little notes. Kagami had kept his set of keys after all instead of tossing them in the trash like he'd claimed (one of Aomine's earlier excuses to see Kagami had been to demand the second set of keys back). To Aomine, that had been as good as progress.

Satsuki thought Kagami was being a shithead for continuing to come around and keeping Aomine's hopes up. Aomine wished he could say the same, but he _wanted_ his hopes kept up. He wanted desperately to think that Kagami wasn't just coming over and playing housemaid out of a lingering sense of guilt. 

Aomine didn't have a set of keys to Kagami's apartment and was no good with householdy things anyway, but he tried to return the favour whenever he could. Just recently, he had talked to a few key higher-ups to encourage the beat cops to keep looking the other way about firehouse guys parking overnight on nearby government property. The firehouse didn't have a parking lot, and the streets all around it were no-parking zones on account of all the fire engines.

Aomine and Kagami had made peace, more or less. They talked when they saw each other, the way old frenemies did. Aomine started flirting with him again a few months ago, and it maybe kind of looked like Kagami was starting to thaw. If they started with a clean slate, if they took each other's hands and went forward, without looking back, couldn't it work?

_I want you to be with someone who really loves you, not someone like me._

And still here he was waiting for Kagami to love him. Aomine knew it was pathetic; he'd always known that. He never used to care what it looked like to anyone; he just didn't want to lose Kagami. But here he was, drunk off his tail in the wee hours of Saturday morning, standing over his kitchen sink trying not to vomit. Alone. Again.

Maybe Kagami was right. Maybe he'd never loved Aomine and never would. Maybe every one of those meals should have tasted like guilt. Maybe everyone else was right, too. Maybe it was time to admit there was no way he could win this one.

[tbc]


	6. Chapter 6

A bus stop was far from the most romantic place for a date, but there was no helping it: to get to the nearest movie theatre, one had to take the bus to the train station and then a train to Shizuoka. Making the trip separately just to meet in the city felt like a waste of together-with-Rin time to Makoto, and that was why he'd suggested the bus stop.

The movie was at seven twenty. The bus to the train station would take ten minutes, the train ride was another fifteen minutes, and the theatre was five minutes from the station on foot. They'd decided to give themselves about an hour just to avoid being in a rush, so they were supposed to take the six thirty bus into town. 

Makoto checked his watch as he neared the stop: it was still just past six, but he hadn't been able to sit at home. He'd worked two back-to-back shifts before today, and even though he'd slept late on purpose, what if he dozed off accidentally and made Rin wait? The sun had already set, and a dark sky tended to make Makoto sleepy ever since childhood. It wasn't as though it was too cold to wait outside, either. Besides, he wanted to see Rin arrive. 

Just as soon as he thought that, he saw that it wasn't going to happen: Rin was already there, leaning on the bus shelter wall with his back and talking on the phone. He stood right under a streetlamp, and Makoto's breath was stolen the same way it had been back when Rin had walked back into his high school life. He'd emerged out of a darkened corridor, and Makoto had stood there, awestruck at how cool he looked, how tall he'd become and how handsome. It probably didn't count as love at first sight -- Makoto knew Rin, after all, and had seen him many times before -- but to Makoto, it had felt exactly like that.

By the time he'd gotten his bearings, Rin's eyes had already skated right past him and onto Haru. That was where they had stayed. Makoto had spent the following years quietly watching Rin from the background of Rin's life, wishing he could one day be more than window dressing. He'd thought he had moved on from that soft yet consuming longing that had filled his head with so many daydreams, but here it was again. Nothing had changed -- neither Rin's radiance nor Makoto's feelings. One other thing remained the same: there would be no happy ending for them.

_But that can wait._

Makoto thought about fading into the shadows, but Rin had spotted him. He said something into the phone and then pocketed it.

"Hey, Rin," Makoto said when he got closer. "Looks like we're both early."

"I forgot we said six-twenty," Rin said, looking at his feet. "Thought it was six."

"Oh," Makoto said. He'd started thinking that Rin had come earlier because he was as excited as Makoto, but of course that couldn't be true. Why would he be? "Well, good thing I decided to come out a little earlier."

"How come?" Rin asked, looking up at him.

Makoto grinned. "Isn't it the kind of thing you do on dates? Show up early, and then when you're asked if you've waited long, you say, oh no, I just got here."

Rin rolled his eyes. "I bet that never really happens."

"By the way, have you been here long?" Makoto asked.

"No, I just got-- shut up! I'm only saying that because it's true!"

A cheerful blue town minibus -- the six-ten -- pulled up to the stop. "Headed into town, young masters?" the bus driver asked through the front doors as they opened.

"Good evening, Hanamori-san," Makoto said. "Come on, Rin, we might as well."

"No making a mess back there!" Hanamori called after them as they made their way towards the back of the bus.

"What's his deal?" Rin muttered. "We're not kids."

"It's a Benz bus," Makoto explained. "Hanamori-san's a fan."

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"I used to take his route to work before I got my bike," Makoto said, smiling in passing at the convenience store clerk and her little daughter, who were seated near the middle of the bus with a group of high schoolers.

"By the way, I'm sorry about interrupting your phone call," Makoto said after they took two empty seats at the back of the bus. 

"Oh, that was just Sousuke," Rin said. "He doesn't care how much time we spend talking as long as I check in with him once in a while."

"Does he give you a hard time?" Makoto asked. "About the police thing."

"Nah, he's mellowed out about it," Rin said. "Well, we got into a huge fight at first, but we worked it out."

"That must have been scary," Makoto said. "Yamazaki-kun is really intimidating as it is; he's probably downright scary when he gets angry."

"You think so?" Rin said, gazing out of the window. "He's really got you fooled then -- he's pretty much a teddy bear."

Makoto smiled. "I guess when it comes to you, it's different. He never liked anyone from the old Iwatobi swim club much."

"It's not that," Rin said. "He just had this weird idea that you guys were holding me back." He looked into Makoto's eyes for the first time since the bus stop. "Even though it's the opposite."

Makoto felt warmth he didn't deserve. "I didn't have anything to do with it," he protested.

"You had everything to do with it," Rin muttered.

The bus veered sharply to the right, sending Makoto into Rin's side.

"Sorry about that!" Hanamori said over the intercom. "There was a puddle; had to go around it."

"Honestly, Hanamori-san! Think about your passengers a little, instead of your bus!" Shindou -- the store clerk -- scolded. One of the teenagers tittered.

"I'm sorry," Makoto said to Rin, who was rubbing his arm. "I should've been holding on."

"It's okay," Rin said. "I didn't expect you to play so rough on the first date, but it's cool."

Makoto's face boiled. "Rin!"

"What?" Rin asked with a mischievous grin.

Makoto -- obviously -- couldn't resist that, so he smiled back. "So we're already on a date?"

Rin's smile faded a little. "I-- um, I dunno. I guess."

"It doesn't really feel like a date," Makoto said. "It's more like we're just hanging out."

"Well, we're friends, so it's to be expected," Rin said with a sniff.

"So we're on a date as friends?" Makoto had never known it was possible to want a person to say yes and no at the same time. _Yes_ meant he could go back to his daydreams and stop worrying about betraying Rin's expectations. _No_ meant that Rin maybe wanted something besides friendship, and just the idea of that made Makoto's heart swell to the size of a world-class metropolis.

"We're friends who are on a date," Rin said. "I guess."

The bus pulled up to the train station, much to Makoto's gratitude -- Rin didn't look enthused to discuss this, and the last thing Makoto wanted was to try and corner Rin into saying something he didn't mean, or want to say.

There were no seats available on the train -- workers from a nearby rubber factory were going home to Shizuoka after the day shift's end -- so Rin and Makoto stood side by side in the aisle and talked quietly, addressing each other's reflections in the darkened train window.

"It feels strange to take the train to go out somewhere when it's so dark," Rin said. "At the Academy, we had a curfew at ten in the evening. So usually if it's this dark, it means I'm going back to the dorms."

"Ah, maybe we should have done the afternoon show, then," Makoto said, concerned.

"I don't mean strange in a bad way," Rin amended. "Besides, it's not like I'm happy about being used to curfews."

Makoto glanced at him in the window. "You don't have one now, right?"

"I do," Rin said with a scowl. "But at least it's midnight. We're technically allowed to stay out overnight, but we have to let the floor supervisor know."

"Hmm," Makoto said, rubbing his chin. "So I'm on a date with Cinderella, huh. Will you turn into a pumpkin if I don't get you home by midnight?"

Rin punched his arm lightly. "It's not funny." But he was kind of smiling, so maybe it was a little funny.

*

"Where do you want to sit?" Rin asked. "It's pretty open." Earlier that day, they'd already decided on the action movie sequel to a film they'd seen together back in elementary school; now it was just a matter of navigating ten million menus on the fancy ticket machine.

Makoto peered at the display. "I'd rather sit as far back as possible," he said. "If I sit too close to the screens, my eyes hurt a lot, even if I wear my glasses."

Rin looked at him with plain surprise. "I didn't know you wore glasses."

"Just for reading and being on the computer and things." He'd actually been in such a hurry to see Rin that he'd forgotten his glasses, but he would be fine as long as he was far enough back. Hopefully. And if not, it would be worth it.

"Back row it is, then," Rin said, selecting two middle seats on the screen. They glowed red, and then the screen moved on to a multitude of offers for concession stand combos that they supposedly could only get at _that_ machine, but neither Rin nor Makoto were fooled.

Their theatre was all but empty when they arrived and made their way to the back. The film had been out for several weeks already, so it was no surprise that a Sunday evening show would be poorly attended. There were still ten minutes left to showtime, and Makoto took his phone out to put it on silent before he forgot. He went to put it in his pocket, but it caught on the flap and tumbled to the floor, sliding down a little on the uneven, carpeted floor.

Makoto said another silent prayer for having bought a special protective case for it. He must have dropped the thing at least fifty times since arriving here in town. He leaned down over Rin to get it, without thinking, and when he came up, he realised he had put his hand on Rin's leg, just above the knee, thinking for some reason that it was the armrest. It was way lower than the armrest, obviously, and the actual armrest was nowhere in sight.

"Well I never," Rin said with that same mischievous smirk from earlier. "Now you're just being brazen, Tachibana-kun."

Makoto blushed furiously and stuck his stupid phone into his stupid pocket. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I, um. I could have sworn there was an armrest there."

"I put it up when I sat down so we wouldn't elbow-fight over it," Rin said. 

"Well, I should have checked for it. I'm sorry."

"I didn't mind it," Rin said. "We are on a date, right?"

"That doesn't mean I get to grab you whenever I like," Makoto protested.

Rin opened his mouth, about to say something, but then the lights faded out, and the anti-piracy ad started, followed by the previews. Makoto decided that it wasn't a conversation worth having, anyway; he wasn't the type of person who just… grabbed people. Especially if those people were gorgeous and therefore totally out of his league, like Rin.

A few late-comers scurried into the theatre as the previews continued, but no one else sat in the back row -- or the three rows in front of them. There were maybe twenty total people in the audience by the time the film started.

It felt nice to sit next to Rin in the darkness; date or no date, knowing Rin was there gave Makoto a peaceful feeling, like floating on his back in shallow waters, looking up at the stars. He would have liked to hold Rin's hand, but he still wasn't sure if Rin wanted anything like that. Different people had different expectations of dates, and so far, Rin had only been his usual self. He didn't seem even a little bit nervous.

On the screen, the hero -- a hapless fletcher's apprentice with ninja roots who kept getting caught up in adventures he didn't ask for -- tried to pretend he was a chicken after sneaking onto an enemy's mansion grounds. His attempt at clucking was so pathetic that Makoto laughed, as quietly as he could, with a hand over his mouth to avoid disturbing the other people in the audience. It was one of those times when laughter itself made the initial joke funnier and funnier in his mind, and he must have spent a full two minutes trying to get himself back under control while the mid-boss enemy dragged the still-clucking hero to the dungeons.

Makoto looked back at Rin to see if he thought it was funny, too, but Rin's eyes weren't on the screen; they were on Makoto. He abruptly turned away once Makoto's eyes found his, but not quickly enough for Makoto to miss how _sad_ he looked.

"Rin?" Makoto whispered, leaning in closer so it wouldn't carry and so he could see Rin's face better. "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing," Rin whispered back. "Don't worry."

Their eyes met again, and at this distance, Makoto could clearly see Rin's face softened by shadows, and once again marvelled at the depth of feelings he'd harboured all this time. To be so near to Rin, to feel the warmth of his breath on his face -- Makoto must have done something really good recently to deserve something like this. "Rin," he whispered, moving even closer, putting a hesitant hand on the side of Rin's face, fingertips brushing against Rin's soft unruly hair.

They were alone back here; no one could see them: the projectionist would have left soon after the film had started. One daydream he'd loved back in the day had been a lot like this, only they were watching a romantic movie instead of slapstick action. The background music to their first movie-time kiss in Makoto's imagination had always been the triumphant swell of an orchestra, not grown men trying to pretend they were barn animals, but Makoto would take it. He could hardly hear anything at all for his heart pounding desperately in his ears.

His eyes were closed when he kissed Rin for the first time, his mouth dry, his hands trembling. Rin was braver; his lips parted, his tongue slid against Makoto's bottom lip. Makoto sighed and let him in, his hand moving to the back of Rin's head to tangle in his hair. Kissing Rin and having Rin kiss him back brought a relief Makoto had never hoped to experience, an overwhelming joy that made him feel like crying -- a hollow ache in his chest, a stinging in his eyes. Instead of crying, he opened his eyes and kissed Rin deeper. Though this wasn't Makoto's first kiss, he wanted to try to forget all the others.

Eventually, they came apart to breathe, looked at each other, smiled almost at the same time, and then looked away again. Rin tipped his head onto Makoto's shoulder, and Makoto lifted his arm to pull him closer. He was a little embarrassed to let Rin hear his frantic heartbeat, but if he was going to sit here and kiss Rin, he could hardly try to hide his feelings. In the darkness, one of Rin's hands found Makoto's free hand and laced their fingers together.

"I lied earlier, when I said I messed up the time," Rin mumbled against his neck. "I came early on purpose so I could see you come down the path."

Makoto's heart sped up. "Me too," he confessed. "I wanted to wait for you."

"I was there first, so it's my win," Rin said, curled his fingers tighter against Makoto's, and tilted his face up for another kiss. After that, the movie might as well have finished, because neither of them paid it any more attention.

Years from now, no matter how lonely he became, Makoto knew he would think back to Theatre Four, the two middle seats of the very back row with the armrest tucked away between them, and he would remember the happiest place in the world.

The unhappy ending could wait a little bit longer.

[tbc]


	7. Chapter 7

Aomine nodded to Sado as he approached the community gym. Sado returned his nod mutely and continued walking towards the street, though he kind of rolled his eyes back towards the gym door, as if to warn Aomine of something.

Aomine knew what that was: he'd skipped practice two weeks in a row now: last week because he'd been too hung over, and this week because he'd meant to. He exhaled and let himself inside.

Kagami was mid-dunk, and seeing him like that, as always, made Aomine's hands tingle and his legs tense: he always wanted to play basketball with Kagami. Here was another case of you can't always get what you want.

"Yo," he said after Kagami recovered the ball.

Kagami tossed the ball to him. "You're late. Did you think I was kidding when I said I'd kick you off the team?"

Aomine _knew_ he'd been kidding; Kagami had been threatening to kick him off the Civil Service Association's team since long before they'd broken up. But Kagami wouldn't really kick him off. No matter what had happened in their personal lives, they were still rivals on the court, same team or not. Most of their practice matches were team members against each other, anyway. Their Association budget barely covered facility rentals and uniforms, so they had to do fundraisers if they wanted to travel or host other teams, and nobody had time for fundraisers.

He threw the ball back to Kagami. "You don't need to kick me off. I'm quitting this team, Kagami."

Kagami caught the ball with both hands and lifted it to his chest. "Where are you going?"

Aomine couldn't suppress a small grin. Kagami of all people _would_ know that Aomine wouldn't quit playing basketball unless he was physically unable to. Of course he'd want to know what team Aomine would join, considering there weren't any more of them in their town.

"I think I'll try out for a league team," he said. "I'm not too old yet."

Kagami still held the ball level with his chest, as though frozen. "You're quitting the force?"

"Nah, I don't mean league as in serious league, like Tetsu. More like the Shizuoka Sand Cats league."

Kagami opened his mouth and closed it again, drove the ball towards the net and sank it. "I'll talk to the guys about a farewell party," he said, walking after the ball as it rolled away across the floor. "We'll all wish you good luck then."

Aomine was kind of taken aback; he'd half expected Kagami to try to talk him out of it at least a little. He'd even thought of responses for things he'd thought Kagami might say, just in case. He _never_ did that; never worried about what he would say or do in a situation. Being dismissed this easily hurt worse than Aomine had expected. Compounded with his annoyance for having come prepared for nothing, it gave him the will to say the other thing he'd come here to say.

"Kagami?"

"What?"

"I don't want you coming around my place any more."

Kagami, who had just picked the ball up off the floor, straightened up slowly and half-turned to look at Aomine. He was drenched in sweat, his practice jersey clinging to his back, and he looked more tired than Aomine had ever seen him. His grasp on the ball faltered but held, and Kagami took it to the three-point line, where he turned away again, never once meeting Aomine's eyes. "Sure," he said. "I'll drop your keys off at the police box later; I don't have them with me."

He threw. The ball danced around the rim and didn't clear the net.

"Keep them," Aomine said. "I've changed the lock." It was a lie, but those keys had become a weird fixation for him, like some kind of cursed item in a video game. If he had them back, he'd probably start to fall apart again, so he didn't want them. "See you around."

Kagami said nothing. Not that Aomine had expected him to say anything; he had already said his good-byes long ago. Kagami retrieved the ball, tried another three-pointer, missed again, and drove it in for a layup. As Aomine watched him for a few more moments, an empty feeling settled deep into his bones. He wanted nothing except to stay here and play one-on-one with Kagami. But what he _would_ do was walk away knowing they were never going to do that again.

They had met on an outdoor basketball court; it felt weirdly fitting that they'd part ways to the hollow echo of a drive against a polished floor. The door closing behind him cut the sound off, and silence deafened Aomine briefly. The gym was on the outskirts of a park, far enough from the main gathering spots that it was almost tranquil until you passed through the tall pines and hit the main road. He hurried towards that road, towards sound.

*

On Monday morning -- day two of Aomine's Kagami-free life -- he sat at his desk putting information from a paper file into the computer. He could only type with two fingers, so it was slow, annoying work, but it had the unexpected side benefit of keeping Kagami out of his mind. This Kuramochi character from a small town in Saitama kept starting fights in public and getting bailed out by his mom, and some of the incident reports were downright weird. Who paid a pet shop for their ferret shit just so one could throw it at a person? _Why a ferret?_

Haruno walked in and headed straight for the coffee station, ignoring Aomine.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine," he said, mildly offended.

Haruno _shrieked_ and slammed the coffee mug down so hard on the table it cracked in two. The mug, not the table. Though if Haruno had wanted to, she might've cracked that as well.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her expression accusing. "It's seven-thirty in the morning."

"I woke up early."

"Bullshit, you didn't sleep at all."

It was true, and Aomine knew better than to bullshit a bullshitter, anyway. "I'm not gonna talk about it."

"Fair enough," she said, with eyes that said it was anything but. She deposited the mug remains in the wastebasket and pulled a clean one off the drying rack. "Shino-kun told me you skipped practice again, is that true?"

Aomine snorted. "You say that as if that bug otaku would lie to you. Yeah, it's true. In fact, I quit the team."

Haruno tapped her spoon against the side of her mug, seemingly concentrated on the coffee dripping into the carafe. "Is _that_ so."

"Yeah."

"Don't you think it's counter-productive to give up something you like so much just so you can keep away from what's-his-name?"

"That's not why," Aomine said. He'd said this to himself so many times that it didn't even sound like a lie any more. "I just keep looking at Matsuoka here and thinking, hell, if this frivolous-looking guy can do it -- aim for a professional sports career while helping old ladies find their plant murderers, I mean -- why not me?"

Haruno glanced at him over her shoulder. "Uh-huh."

"I'm serious."

"But he's going to go on sabbatical if he makes it past that summer qualifier. Is that what _you're_ planning?"

"I don't know about swimming, but many pro basketball players have regular jobs," Aomine said. "We're not in America." There were, of course, exceptions, but while Aomine had no doubt he could be one, he didn't _want_ to be one. He was convinced that turning anything fun into a day job would eventually suck all the fun out of it. 

"But what about all the travelling?"

"I'll have to call in favours and get modified hours, or something. Hell, I might even transfer to another district, if I can't be on a nearby team. Anyway, it's not like I'll be hopping all over Japan every week, anyway."

The coffee maker finished doing its thing, and Haruno was pouring herself a coffee when Matsuoka sparkled into the police box. There was no other way to describe it: he looked approximately six thousand megawatts brighter than usual. Something really good must have happened on the weekend.

A mature, reasonable adult would probably have felt happy for Matsuoka and whatever it was that made him feel so great _everyone_ could see it. Aomine just got annoyed. 

While Matsuoka made his coffee, Aomine stealthily swapped his stack of finished files with the ones on Matsuoka's desk. Matsuoka was sharp enough that he'd probably only have to run into `Error: File Number Already Exists` messages two or three times before he figured it out, but it would hopefully at least make him frown a little.

Haruno deposited her coffee on her desk and put the swapped files back. "Don't be a bully."

"Fine, whatever." Aomine sighed and went back to his ferret-shit flinger.

*

"It's almost lunch time," Haruno said. "Will you go pick up some burgers, Matsuoka-kun? Aomine-kun didn't sleep and isn't allowed to drive."

"I, um, I'm actually going to go out for lunch today," Matsuoka said. "I have--"

The door opened, and Tachibana Makoto stepped inside, ducking his head a little even though the doorway was more than tall enough. He looked much less bulky without his turnout gear -- a swimmer's build if Aomine had ever seen one (and he saw one every day at work).

"Hello, um, I'm looking for--," he spotted Matsuoka rising from behind his stacks of files and smiled. It was the kind of smile that it ailed your heart just to look at it, because you wished it were for you.

"You're early," Matsuoka said with celebratory exuberance.

Tachibana's smile faded a little, as if he couldn't tell Matsuoka sounded like it was New Year's Day and his rich uncle had just given him ten thousand yen. "Ah, sorry, I can wait outside--"

Matsuoka shook his head. "No, it's fine, I was just about to leave. This is, um."

"I'm Tachibana Makoto," Tachibana supplied, bowing. "I work at the firehouse."

"These are my coworkers, Haruno-senpai and Aomine-senpai."

Tachibana gave Aomine an undisguised look of curiosity, and Aomine had to wonder if it was because he'd heard things from Matsuoka or because he'd heard things from Kagami. But Matsuoka dragged him out into the sunlit street before Aomine thought of a way to ask which one it was.

"I _knew_ it!" Aomine stage-whispered to Haruno, who had both her hands pressed to her chest.

"He's _adorable_ ," she said. "No wonder Matsuoka-kun just about lost his mind."

"I give it three weeks," Aomine muttered. He had no real basis for it except seething jealousy. 

He stared out of the window at the two of them walking back to the downtown area, watched Matsuoka's hand do the awkward little dance around Tachibana's hand while Tachibana looked too lost in Matsuoka's eyes to even pay attention to where he was going. Which worked out for Matsuoka, who ended up grabbing Tachibana's hand to keep him from walking into a light pole. They turned the corner and passed out of sight then, but Aomine would've bet good money that Matsuoka wouldn't let go of Tachibana's hand until they got to their destination.

He thought about lying awake last night and the night before, thinking about how Kagami had simply turned his back and gone back to his after-practice cooldown after Aomine had told him not to come around any more. Love sure as hell didn't look like that. He couldn't remember the last time Kagami had looked at him the way Tachibana and Matsuoka looked at each other.

He couldn't even remember if Kagami had _ever_ looked at him like that. He wasn't even sure if he'd looked at Kagami with eyes that bright. They'd hated each other's guts at the beginning -- _on sight_. Maybe that had been the right way for them to feel about each other all along.

Aomine had never been prone to flights of fancy; he didn't have either the patience or a good enough imagination for that sort of thing, but he'd gone to the gym with the vague hope Kagami would finally admit they weren't really finished if Aomine were to take initiative and try to put some distance between them. It happened all the time, right? Even a dog ignored its toys only as long as nobody tried to take them away.

He might as well have fantasised about buying a one-way ticket to Madagascar and then having Kagami run out on the tarmac at the last minute to stop him. Happy endings were for movies. In real life, there were only endings.

[tbc]


	8. Chapter 8

"What are you doing here?" Tatsumi asked when Makoto walked into the firehouse. She and Sado were untangling support cords found mouldering in a disused locker last week. "Isn't Nishida covering for you?"

"He is," Makoto said. Nishida had come into the firehouse at shift start and asked, all in a panic, if anyone could trade with him. "I'll be covering for him on Thursday. I'm just grabbing some of those disaster safety pamphlets for the residential building, since I'm headed home now."

"Oh, did you stay in town all morning?" Tatsumi asked. "I thought you'd go straight home."

"I had some errands to run," Makoto said. _Kind of._

Earlier, he'd texted Rin and Haru about his unexpected day off. Haru hadn't responded, but Rin had said they should go out for lunch. Makoto had felt like it would be a waste to go all the way back home only to return a few hours later, so he'd spent the morning at Haru's workplace, helping the owner arrange furniture in the new upstairs private function room. Afterwards, Haru had made him coffee and scolded him for getting roped into working for free. Makoto had told him the date had gone well without getting into details, to which Haru had replied, _you're lucky Rin's braver than you._ He was right: Makoto _was_ lucky. But he hadn't come here to daydream about Rin.

"So did the lieutenant ever make it in today?" Makoto asked. Kagami had been running unusually late at shift start.

"He just came back from the city with Chief Kotonami," Tatsumi said.

"Oh, did he say he was going to be away? I must've missed it."

"No, didn't you hear? Apparently Kagami broke a door at the gym the Civil Service Association basketball team is renting."

"He didn't break it," Sado put in. "He threw a basketball at it and it cracked. Or so he says."

Tatsumi readjusted her headband. "Or so he says?"

"It didn't happen during our practice. But I saw Aomine going inside just as I was leaving."

"You think he did it and Kagami's covering for him?" Tatsumi asked.

Sado shrugged. "Who's to say? Kagami _was_ in a mood all practice. Maybe they got into a fight."

Kagami did have a quick temper, but Makoto didn't think he would start a physical fight without provocation even if he was in a bad mood. Aomine was starting to sound like a real troublemaker. Makoto made a mental note to try and find out if he was causing any problems for Rin. "Either way, isn't that par for the course?" he asked. "Don't sports facilities get insured for that sort of thing?"

"Yeah, but the landlord's kind of a douche and demanded a formal apology," Tatsumi explained. "That's why both Kagami and the chief had to go; he's a ranked firefighter and the team captain, and she's his boss and an Association board member. There's nowhere else to rent space in town -- the big complex by the hot spring resorts is foreign-owned and too expensive -- so they have to make nice."

The dispatch siren sounded, and the speakers announced a car accident on the bridge to the resort island, calling for the rescue squad to head to the scene. Tatsumi and Sado dropped their work and made for the fire engine, Tatsumi sketching a salute at Makoto. Some of the guys from his squad came downstairs to see Rescue off, then went back to whatever they'd been doing.

Makoto, too, watched the truck roll out of the bay and headed to the admin office to pick up his pamphlets. The way led him through the dining area, where he was surprised to see Kagami behind the kitchen counter, chopping a small mountain of onions and crying.

"Boss," he said cautiously, pausing by the counter.

"I hate onions," Kagami said. He sounded cheerful enough for someone so teary-eyed.

"My mom cuts them under running water," Makoto said. "She says it fools the onions into thinking you're crying already."

"Chewing gum helps too," Kagami said with a small grin. "But I didn't have any on me."

"I could get you some--?" Makoto began, but Kagami waved his knife-free hand at him.

"No worries, I'm almost done anyway."

Makoto eyed the other ingredients arranged in neat piles on the other side of the counter, waiting for their turn. Even Haru would have been pleased. "What are you making?" he asked.

"Vegetable soup," Kagami said. His eyes dulled for a moment, then his normal expression returned. "Ended up with a bunch of extra ingredients suddenly, so I figured I'd feed you guys instead."

_Feed us instead of whom?_ Makoto wondered. "Too bad I won't get to try it," he said. "I just stopped by for some pamphlets for our building." Kagami lived three floors above him.  
"Don't worry, I'm making a lot," Kagami said. "Soup is better the next day, anyway."

"I'll look forward to it," Makoto said with a smile. "I'll take my leave now."

"By the way, Tachibana, you ever play basketball?" Kagami asked.

Makoto stopped mid-turn. "Way back in middle school, why?"

"One of our guys quit, so we're a warm body short. Interested?"

"I'm not sure, I'll think about it," Makoto said, unenthused. There was nothing to think about, of course. In his current condition, communal showers were right out, and he wasn't interested in trying to make up some story about why he had to go home to shower.

"We're going to have a going away party for the guy who quit. It's on Saturday: should be right when the cherry blossoms are fully open. Why don't you come and meet everyone? No pressure."

"I-- um, I have p-plans," Makoto stammered. He didn't do so well with outright lies.

"So bring your plans along," Kagami said. "Unless there are like, nine of them."

"Just one," Makoto said, flushing. A flower viewing party sounded wonderful, especially if he could go with Rin. "I, um, I'll ask? I really need to go now."

"I'll send you the details, so come. And bring your just one," Kagami called as he walked away.

At the admin office, Makoto picked up a box of pamphlets, left a note about it for the secretary, and left through the service door to avoid having to see Kagami again.

When he'd gone to get Rin for their lunch date, Aomine had looked so terrible that Makoto had done a double take: swollen eyes, sunken cheeks, eyes with no signs of life; like he hadn't slept in days. That, combined with the cracked door at the gym, Aomine's post-practice visit, and the news that someone had quit the team, Makoto had the sense that Kagami's onions simply made a good cover story for why he looked like such a mess.

And yet he was organising Aomine's farewell party. Surely that meant they weren't on bad terms -- but if not, if Aomine hadn't done something terrible, then why weren't they together? Makoto's thoughts often returned to the desperate longing with which Kagami looked at Aomine. He probably thought he hid it well behind that easygoing, infectious smile. Makoto had to wonder if he would be equally bad at hiding his feelings once Rin was finished with him.

-

_They're really quiet on the trip home. Makoto doesn't mind, because Rin hasn't let go of his hand since they left the movie theatre, and words would be difficult, anyway. He's never felt this happy in his life -- he's on a roller coaster going up, and down is never coming._

_"Come here a second," Rin says when they get off the bus, and he leads Makoto to the bus shelter. It's one of the old-fashioned all-wood ones, where you can hide completely from the elements if you aren't in the narrow doorway._

_"What's in the bus shel--?" Makoto starts to ask, but Rin pulls him inside, all the way in where it's totally dark, and kisses him, hands on his face, all tongue -- and Makoto never, ever wants him to stop. He strokes Rin's back with both hands, and though it's gotten cold with the sun long gone, he's warm, not just from Rin's hands on him but from the inside._

_"Makoto," Rin whispers, and in the chilly darkness, his voice has a weight that Makoto will never forget._

_Someone outside the bus shelter coughs raspily, and they pull apart and file out, though Rin takes Makoto's hand again._

_In the circle of streetlight outside stands a bespectacled old man, puffing on an old-fashioned pipe stuck neatly in a gap between his teeth. "You there, with the mop on your head. Is there a bus coming tonight that'll take me out on the town?"_

_Makoto checks his watch. "Yes, there'll be one headed for the train station in fifteen minutes. It'll say Nijibashi Station on the front. But you'll want to cross the street for it. This side is for the bus going the other way."_

_"Well ain't that modern progress!" the old man cackles. "If I had the funding, I'd build a robot to take me places, mark me." He starts making his unhurried way across the street._

_Rin scoffs. "I ought to arrest him for jaywalking."_

_Makoto tugs on his hand. "Be nice to your elders. Come, I'll walk you home."_

_The low-walled courtyard outside Rin's building is full of cops milling about in small groups, smoking cigarettes, drinking out of cans and swapping gossip. Rin squeezes his hand just before they get to the courtyard. "I don't want those guys to see you," he says. "Some of them will try to steal you in a minute."_

_Makoto smiles and squeezes his hand back. "I'm not for stealing."_ Not by them, anyway, _he thinks, but doesn't have the courage to say. They can't kiss here; it's too public even though they're still in the darkened playground and haven't been spotted yet._

_"I'll call you tomorrow," Rin says, and then he jogs up the driveway, and Makoto is alone._

_His shift starts at four in the morning, but when he gets back home, he stands by his window for a good long time, trying in vain to find the balcony with the green bathrobe in the darkness._

-

Makoto straightened up the apartment, watched some TV while eating a convenience store sandwich he'd picked up on his way home, took a bath, and turned in. Switching with Nishida meant he would be pulling three shifts in a row, but he had Friday and Saturday off. 

Saturday. He remembered Kagami's invitation. _Is it really okay for me to ask Rin to show up in public with me?_

It wasn't. He knew that it wasn't. The only decent thing to do was to tell Rin everything and just let it end. He had a feeling that _now_ he understood a little of what Kagami must've gone through when he'd broken up with Aomine. And Makoto wasn't even trying to _break up_ with Rin -- they'd barely even dated. They hadn't even told each other their feelings. He was just going to tell Rin something that almost certainly -- no, certainly -- was going to make Rin leave. Rin, being Rin, would be sweet about it and he'd do everything to let Makoto down easy, but Makoto needed not to have any illusions about how this was going to end.

No matter what had gone wrong for Aomine and Kagami, Makoto imagined this was what it must've been like for Kagami, too: ending the relationship while knowing he was going to stay hurt.

He pulled out his phone and texted Rin. `Are you free on Friday after seven?`

He was about to put the phone back on the floor when the reply came through. `Are you going to ask me out on a date this time?`

`Can you come over?` Makoto typed.

`(´⊙ω⊙`) May I interpret that the way I want to interpret it?`

Makoto smiled, even though he felt awful. He wished he could send a flirty text right back, but he didn't want Rin to get the wrong idea. And he didn't want Rin to feel bad later. `We'll order pizza. My treat.`

`Is everything OK?`

Makoto sighed. He didn't want to lie, even though it would be easy like this, with just words. `Will you come?`

His phone rang. It was Rin, and Makoto couldn't exactly fail to pick it up and later claim he hadn't heard it -- they'd just been having a text conversation, after all. So he picked up. "Hi?"

"What's wrong?"

This time, Makoto suppressed his sigh. "There's just-- there's something I have to tell you. I'm sorry for being so strange about it."

Rin exhaled. "I was wondering when you were going to start talking."

"W-wait, you _know_?" No, it wasn't possible; Rin couldn't _possibly_ know -- he _was_ with the police, but contrary to grandpa's conspiracy theories, surely they weren't keeping secret records of everyone's private lives.

"I don't know what it is that you want to talk to me about, but I can tell you're keeping something to yourself that's making you miserable," Rin said. "How long do you think we've known each other?"

Makoto was glad Rin couldn't see him, because his smile felt really ugly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know, everything. Keeping things from you. And Haru too. I-- I do want to talk to you about it. But not right now."

"Okay. I'll come over after work on Friday."

"Thank you."

"Makoto?" Rin's voice faltered.

"Yes? I'm still here."

"I-- no, never mind. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Sleep well, Rin."

Makoto wished he could've known this was going to happen, so he'd have let Rin pull him behind those vending machines after they'd left the family restaurant. They wouldn't see each other until Friday, and by then it would be too late. He wished he could've had one more kiss. But he would have felt the same even after a thousand kisses, so it was just as well.

[tbc]


	9. Chapter 9

"Losing an important relationship causes grief too, you know," Haruno said. "And the final stage of grief is acceptance. You'll never be the same, but it gets easier. Trust me -- I know."

Aomine scratched the back of his head. "Acceptance, huh." Trouble was, he'd never accepted anything he didn't like. Why was he supposed to accept this?

"Acceptance of what?" Matsuoka asked, walking in.

"Of your marriage proposal," Aomine said quickly. "I'm betting Tachibana will send you packing. Haruno bets on two kids and a fluffy puppy."

Matsuoka rolled his eyes. He did that a lot when Aomine tried to get a rise out of him, which made Aomine feel like he was being seen through. "Very funny, senpai. More importantly, can you come and help put down some traffic cones?" Matsuoka picked up a stack of them from the storage area.

Aomine was glad of an excuse to escape Haruno's scrutiny. "What happened?" he asked as he followed Matsuoka through the cat's alley shortcut to the hill road.

"Natsume-san from the Pleasant Dreams inn was bringing pickles up the hill in a cart, but his cat chased after another cat and got underfoot."

Sure enough, the unevenly paved road leading to the traditional Japanese inns overlooking the bay was littered with neatly wrapped, calligraphy-decorated paper packages. Natsume himself -- a quiet young man with haunted eyes who helped out at his grandmother's inn -- stood next to a lamp post and watched the road anxiously.

Matsuoka waved to him. "You can start picking them up now; we'll block the road off."

Natsume nodded and went to it, still scolding his fat orange tabby cat (who lay curled up in a spot of sunlight atop a nearby brick fence and pretended like none of this had anything to do with him).

Aomine grabbed a couple of cones and headed downhill to make sure any approaching cars would know there was an obstacle ahead. It was a one-way street, and wide enough to permit both pedestrian and vehicle traffic -- as long as drivers slowed down and didn't try to shoot up the hill, they could weave around the pickle carnage.

He spotted Yoruichi lurking in the bushes next to one of the street-facing houses. _Another cat, huh._ "I should've known this was your doing," he told her.

Yoruichi snorted and vanished into the undergrowth, tail like a mast.

"Come by later -- Haruno brought you some flaky fish things," Aomine called after her. He felt like he owed her for rescuing him from an annoying conversation, even if she'd done it unknowingly.

Once the cones were in place, he went back uphill to help Natsume and Matsuoka load the pickles back onto the cart. Then the two of them made their way back to the police box, laden with traffic cones plus a plastic bag of pickled wasabi stems, for their trouble. As they were about to enter the shortcut to the main street, Aomine heard raised voices coming from further down the hill.

"Should we check it out?" Matsuoka asked.

"Let's drop this crap off first," Aomine said. Anything was a a good excuse to stay away from Haruno's lectures, but the traffic cones were unwieldy and hardly lent authority.

Ten minutes later, they made their way back and to Medicine Alley -- an informal name for a cul-de-sac housing two clinics -- a regular neighbourhood clinic and a physical therapy one -- plus a high-end pharmacy.

Midorima -- Aomine's former classmate and owner of the physical therapy clinic -- adjusted his glasses when he spotted Aomine and Matsuoka.

"See what you've done with your shouting?" he said to the regular clinic's owner, Kurosaki. "The police have come."

"I can see them without your running commentary, thanks," Kurosaki grumbled, folding his arms. "I'm still not letting that thing stay on the sidewalk."

 _That thing_ referred to an incredibly ugly painted wooden statue of a tanuki wearing a green floral muumuu and a straw hat. A basket of apples looped around its left elbow completed the look.

"You two are so loud I could hear you from up the hill," Aomine said without bothering with greetings.

"You're a Cancer as well; this is for our mutual benefit," Midorima insisted as though Aomine were furniture.

"It's ugly and it makes children cry," Kurosaki said, adjusting the collar of his white coat. "Take it inside."

"But Oha Asa said it must be displayed prominently."

Aomine noticed Matsuoka's bewildered expression but elected not to explain. "Why don't you go ahead and take this one?" he murmured. "They're not going to listen to me, anyway." Normally he would have yelled at them to shut up and confiscated the statue until business close, but he _really_ wanted to see Matsuoka's expression when Midorima explained its purpose.

*

"Do you know everyone in town?" Matsuoka asked as they made their way back to the police box. He'd managed to convince Midorima to make it so the tanuki statue faced away from the sidewalk, so visitors to the Kurosaki clinic would only see the back of it.

"More or less," Aomine said. "By sight, definitely. It's a small enough place." His whole life had revolved around this town and its people for years, and now that he was thinking about changing that, he didn't want to be reminded that it was home. "Say, how about we grab the cruiser and go pick up some burgers? It's just about time for lunch anyway. We could go by the fire station and--"

He remembered his decision not to go by the fire station any more, for any reason. He looked away. "Forget that last part."

Matsuoka said nothing, but he wore a knowing look that irritated Aomine to no end.

"Don't make a face like you know what's going on. You wouldn't get it even if I told you. Can't understand someone who's hungry after you've just had a five-course meal, damn it."

"If you're hungry, you should eat something, senpai," Matsuoka said with the same blasted expression on his face.

Aomine could sense that Matsuoka was being clever, but he didn't have the patience to try and understand this kind of subliminal crap.

"We're going to get burgers, so I will," he said. It wasn't Matsuoka's fault that he couldn't stop forgetting that he and Kagami were really over.

*

They'd gotten together when Aomine was still at the academy and Kagami had taken over the Civil Service Association's team. He'd finally matured enough to admit that he had always wanted Kagami, though when he'd proposed a friends-with-benefits arrangement, Kagami had told him he wasn't interested in casual sex.

At the time, Aomine hadn't yet known the depth of his attachment to Kagami. He'd figured, there were no other likely prospects. He was a never-happened pro basketball sensation; they both were. Many people in the business would always do double takes at their names, but they weren't going to travel the same road as Tetsu. It was kind of fitting for them to be together. 

They hadn't gone on dates or anything like that; Kagami was busy being a rookie firefighter, and Aomine had a ten o'clock curfew. He hung out at Kagami's place eating all his food and fucking him into a creaky old twin-size mattress (or being fucked into same, which had been a first for him).

Then Aomine had graduated, moved into the rookie dorm, and had his curfew extended. Kagami had passed his first aid and disaster response tests and started working towards making rank.  
They saw far too little of each other in the first year of Aomine's posting, and by the time he was halfway through his second rookie year, they'd already agreed they would move in together as soon as possible. 

There had been no grand romance, no heart-shaking confessions or drama. What they had worked, and they'd both known it worked, and that had been enough for Aomine. Two years after they'd moved into Aomine's place -- the firefighters' building had less square footage per apartment -- Kagami admitted that he'd been ready to transfer to Tokyo after he'd passed his firefighter's qualification, and that he'd stayed in town because of Aomine. Five minutes later, he'd told Aomine he loved him.

From mutual loathing to sex to cohabitation to confessions. One confession, actually. Since this weekend, the thought had been haunting Aomine. _I never once told him I loved him. I always figured he knew._ It wasn't even that Aomine had ever been loath to tell Kagami how he felt. It had just never occurred to him that Kagami might want to hear it as well as know it.

Aomine put the last of the plates on the dish rack and wiped his hands. The dishes had piled up after a week of no Kagami, and it had taken him an hour to scrub everything clean. His fingers were all pruney and would probably smell like Grease Fighting Green Apple for a week. He poured himself a whiskey on the rocks and sat down at the kitchen table, staring at a stain on the refrigerator wall.

_"Does it always feel like this?"_

_"Like what?" Aomine stretches out next to Kagami and inhales deeply. They've spent all afternoon fucking; feels like the room will smell like it for days, and he never wants to leave._

_Kagami hides his eyes and pulls the sheets up to cover himself, turning away. "I dunno," he mutters. "Extra nice."_

_"Sex usually feels extra nice," Aomine drawls. "But why are you acting like you've just been deflowered? It's been a year, right?" The whole point of them being here like this -- Aomine even used a sick day -- is that Kagami said it was kind of an anniversary. If he thought fucking like a couple of crazed animals counted as something to celebrate, Aomine wasn't going to argue. Especially if they celebrated with more fucking._

_"I don't think it would feel like that if I did it with someone else, is what I'm trying to say," Kagami murmurs._

Aomine opened his eyes, forcing the image away, downed the last of his drink, and poured another.

He'd wondered more times than he could count if that had been Kagami's reason. Aomine had been all he'd known -- maybe he'd gone with Kise just to see if he felt that way because he loved sex or because he loved Aomine.

Common sense demanded that Aomine recognise that obviously the answer was that the Kise encounter had helped Kagami realise that Aomine wasn't anyone special. but Aomine's pride refused to accept that. Kagami could have easily told him that -- he'd said much worse things in all the the fights they'd had after the break-up. But he never had.

_It doesn't matter any more._

Even though Aomine had never told Kagami how he felt, Kagami had always known. Aomine had kept nothing back -- he'd even been willing to forgive cheating, for fuck's sake. No matter his reasons, Kagami had seen Aomine at his most vulnerable and turned away. There was no coming back from that, for either of them.

He'd been clinging to a childish fantasy of them reuniting and putting everything behind them, walking together hand in hand towards the future or some shit. But what he wanted was what they used to have. After everything they had done to each other, they would never have that again. Even if they got back together, it would never be the same. It would be a different relationship, a new one.

He wasn't interested in building a new relationship with Kagami. If he was going to go that far, he might as well start a new relationship with someone new. Someone who didn't put his own idea of what was good for Aomine above Aomine's own feelings.

But that was a ways off. For now, he'd be happy if he could go a week without thinking about Kagami. Then a month, then a year. A lifetime would be nice.

Aomine made himself another drink.

[tbc]


	10. Chapter 10

Makoto wasn't ready for the doorbell when it rang on Friday. He was never going to have been ready for it, though, so there was nothing for it but to push down the handle and open the door. 

"Hey," Rin said. He looked really cool in his uniform, but Makoto couldn't even admire him: he just felt guilty that Rin had come here without even taking the time to go home and change. They hadn't seen each other since Monday, and Rin hadn't asked about tonight when they'd talked on the phone, but Makoto must have made it sound like the end of the world if Rin had hurried this much.

"Come in," Makoto said, stepping backwards into the tiny corridor to give Rin room.

He'd meant to go inside and let Rin remove his shoes in peace, but he couldn't stop looking at him. He'd never known that Rin was the type to carefully take his shoes off with his hands instead of just toeing them off. And after tonight, so many other things he'd never known about Rin would be out of his reach. Rin's sleeping face, his morning routine, what he was like relaxing at the beach or eating at a fancy restaurant, how he liked his coffee and how long he spent getting ready to go out. Rin at the supermarket, deciding between two cuts of meat. A dishevelled Rin, late for work, looking around for a lost sock--

"Makoto?"

"Sorry," Makoto said, flushing. Rin's eyes were troubled; Makoto must have looked so creepy standing there and staring.

"I--," Rin stopped, frowned and shook his head firmly, "--can I just ask one question?"

"Sure."

Rin looked away. "This thing you want to tell me. Is it 'I like you, but not that way?'"

Makoto's eyes widened. Rin had been thinking that? _Rin_? "Of course not!" 

Belatedly, he realised that this could have been a perfect way for him to keep from involving Rin in his personal problems. If only he'd had the self-possession to pause and think before answering with his feelings, all this could have been settled with just a few words. _Yes. I'm so sorry._

But Rin's eyes were on him again, and even without that, Makoto knew there was no way he could have lied to Rin; not about this. Even if he'd managed to say the words, he'd have immediately tried to take them back. He was good at keeping how he felt to himself, but outright denying it wasn't possible. Neither was saying things he knew would hurt Rin. Still it pained him to see the relief in Rin's entire bearing: his shoulders relaxed, his hands loosened, and a tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows vanished. _I'm only going to disappoint you,_ Makoto wanted to tell him.

"So then what is this big secret?" Rin asked. His tone suggested that nothing could have been worse than what he'd just asked about, and Makoto felt far happier about that than he had any right to.

He gestured for Rin to go inside. "It has to do with why I moved here." He'd hemmed and hawed about how he was going to begin, but Rin had the right idea. Might as well just get right down to it.

"You didn't just miss Haru?" Rin asked, taking a seat on one of the floor cushions.

Makoto sat across the low table from him. "No-- well, I did miss Haru, but no more than I missed my family."

Rin looked up with interest. "Missed them? You weren't living with them?"

Makoto shook his head. "There was no work in Iwatobi, but a friend of my dad's convinced a firehouse in Kurayoshi to take me on. So I moved."

"I've been there," Rin said. "About two hours by train from home, right?"

"Yeah," Makoto said. "A four hour round trip meant I couldn't really go home much, plus I was so busy getting settled in and with my new job."

Rin smiled. "No time to be lonely?"

Makoto sighed. "Not at first. The firehouse wasn't… it wasn't the best workplace. The other firefighters saw me as a kind of errand boy. Which is to be expected, I guess, since I was the youngest, and on probation besides. I didn't mind putting up with it, but I didn't have to like it, you know?"

"Yeah," Rin said. His frown had returned. "So they bullied you?"

Makoto shrugged. "I wouldn't even call it that. It's not like any of them were out to torment me. I was just an outsider and a country bumpkin."

Rin snorted. "Kurayoshi's hardly a modern metropolis."

Makoto smiled. "True, but it's much bigger than Iwatobi. Anyway, they were nice enough when they wanted something." His smile slid away. "Like when the chief's wife said the calendar would sell more copies if they put me in a wet T-shirt."

Rin raised both eyebrows. "What calendar was this?"

"For fundraising -- for things like holiday trips and charity contributions. They're limited edition prints and usually pretty successful."

"Do you have one?" Rin asked. "A copy of the calendar, I mean. I want to see you in a wet T-shirt."

Makoto bit his lip. He hadn't told Rin the whole story yet, and he knew that he had no right to feel hurt, but he could help it. "I didn't keep any," he said, unable to keep an edge out of his voice.

Rin's playful expression changed to confusion. "Makoto?"

"Sorry," Makoto said. "It's not your fault, it-- it's just that the calendar was to blame for--"

He swallowed past the lump in his throat and looked down at his hands. That made it easier. Not looking at Rin.

"To blame for what?" 

"I met someone," Makoto said. "I was buying everyone drinks at the convenience store, and he tripped and his jelly-filled bread went all over my shirt." Makoto closed his eyes, wishing that he couldn't still smell the raspberry jelly and hear the store clerk apologising, even though she'd done nothing wrong and the floor had been dry. "He helped me clean myself up in the employee bathroom, paid for all my drinks, and helped me carry them to the firehouse. As an apology. Then he asked me out."

"Oh," Rin said in a hollow voice. "I thought you said you weren't dating anyone."

"I did," Makoto said dully. "He's not-- we're not. Not any more, though I guess I should say not ever." He hadn't let himself think about what he would say to Rin because he'd been afraid that he'd lose his nerve if he made himself remember, and now it felt like he was going to lose his nerve anyway. He didn't want to talk about this, after all -- not even to Rin. But it was too late to go back on his word.

"It was like a… hurricane," he says, wishing his voice wouldn't waver like that, wishing he could look Rin in the eye. "For three weeks, he was always there, and he-- anyway, it was really… intense, I guess. Even though my probation was over by then, I still lived in a dorm, so we went to h-hotels. His elderly mom was living with him so we couldn't go to his place, either. Then one day he said some relatives took his mom to the country for a week, and, um."

"I don't think I want to hear this," Rin said. "Did he force you--?"

Makoto swallowed again and shook his head. "It wasn't that. He told me after it was important that I-- that I was, well, into it. Otherwise I could report him."

"Report him?"

"His bedroom was really bright. He had… floodlights? After we.. after it was over, he told me he'd been filming the whole thing for a-- a _friend_ , he said. Someone who'd seen that stupid calendar and decided they wanted to see m-more. Yuu was an -- _arranger_ , he called himself. He said he arranged things for his good friends. The jelly bread, that was on purpose. He was just using me so he could get p-pictures." Makoto's face was burning.

"Makoto--"

"It was my own fault, really," he hastened to say. "If I hadn't been so lonely, I wouldn't have been such an airhead, trusting the first person who showed me that much kindness."

"It's not your fault that you were lonely," Rin said. Makoto chanced a glance his way, but he was staring at the floor, his jaw set. "And you're not an airhead."

_He must be trying to think of a way to let me down nicely._ Makoto rose and walked to the window, to give himself an excuse to turn away so he wouldn't have to see Rin's face when he found the way. Night was quickly creeping onto the playground between his building and Rin's.

"When did all of this happen?" Rin asked.

Makoto took a deep breath. "Last summer."

"And you're still in love with that guy."

"No." Makoto shook his head. "I don't think I ever was." He hadn't realised that until Rin had re-appeared, but now he was certain of it. He'd been charmed, taken, a little obsessed -- but he hadn't been in love. That had always been reserved for Rin. He'd had difficulty remembering Yuu's face a month after he'd gone back to wherever he was really from. He'd never forgotten Rin's face for even a second.

"If you aren't in love with him, why are you acting like this is supposed to be some kind of deal-breaker for me? Some sleazebag tricked you and took advantage of you. The only thing wrong with this picture is that I wasn't there to stop him."

Makoto turned to him. Rin was sitting down as before, though his back was a little straighter, and his eyes were clear.

"You don't think it's disgusting?" Makoto asked.

"That you're too nice to people?"

"That someone's got my… pictures." Makoto hoped they were pictures, and not a movie.

"I wouldn't care about something like that even if you personally took money for appearing in them," Rin said. "I mean, I'd be a little jealous and a lot surprised. But it wouldn't matter then and it doesn't matter now."

"Well, that's not everything," Makoto said, feeling a bit ridiculous. Rin sounded so sure of himself that he had to wonder why he ever thought Rin would be appalled if he knew about the photos. "Ever since that night, I, um. I can't take my clothes off if someone else is in the room. Even Haru."

"That could get in the way of some of the things I've been thinking about," Rin said, and just his tone made Makoto's insides quiver. He definitely hadn't lost interest, not if Rin was involved. But interest or not, he knew what the facts were. He could barely stand wearing a jammer at the community swimming pool, and he'd fled in a panic from the showers at the same community centre, even though only he and Haru had been there -- _Haru_. Who had at this point seen Makoto naked more times than his own mom.

"Maybe it was meant to be that way," Makoto said with a small smile after Rin remained quiet for a while. "I was supposed to end up in Kurayoshi, at that firehouse, on that calendar. So Yuu could show up and teach me a valuable life lesson."

Slowly, Rin got up and walked over to where Makoto had been standing since finishing his story. He got in front of Makoto, blocking his view of the darkening playground.

"What if you think of it this way," he murmured, placing a hand over Makoto's heart. "What if Kurayoshi happened so we could meet again?"

Makoto's heartbeat quickened. "Rin..."

Rin lifted his head and met Makoto's eyes. "What if?" Tears had welled up in his eyes, and Makoto would be next if he wasn't careful.

"Please don't cry."

Rin sniffed. "I'm not crying! I don't think now's a good time to tell you how I feel, but if you think I'm going to run for the hills just because some guy tricked you and now you have a problem trusting people, you'd be wrong." He pressed his cheek against Makoto's chest, as if to listen to his heartbeat.

"I-- I don't even know if it's about trusting," Makoto said into Rin's hair. "I get… sweaty, and my mouth goes dry, and I keep thinking that since I'm not alone, there must also be a camera somewhere. And if I cover myself, even if it's a towel, it -- the feeling -- goes away. It, um. It isn't something logical like trust."

Rin didn't say anything.

"I guess most of all I don't understand why he wanted to hurt me," Makoto said sadly. "He'd said so, in the end, before I left. Said he hated people like me -- even though I've never done anything to him."

"Just because someone hates you doesn't mean you've done anything to deserve it," Rin said, meeting Makoto's eyes again. His voice still trembled a little, but his eyes were dry. "You did nothing wrong."

Makoto felt tears well up again -- he hadn't known how much he had needed someone to say those words, in that exact tone of voice, until Rin had said them. Perhaps he'd needed _Rin_ to say them. Rin kissed him, slow and long and deep, and Makoto couldn't believe that he'd all but given up on ever doing this again. He _loved_ Rin. If Rin would have him even like this, then Makoto would let him.

"What did you say his name was?" Rin asked after they'd pulled apart and Makoto tried to be surreptitious about drying his wet cheeks while Rin politely looked the other way.

"Yuu," Makoto said. "Takigawa Yuu."

Disbelief filled Rin's eyes. "No, it wasn't." Rin sounded completely sure, and before Makoto could protest, he pulled out his phone and opened a news app. "Was it him?" he asked, zooming in on an article.

At the top was a photo of a handsome, wavy-haired young man in baseball catcher gear. He had one arm around a foreign-looking older gentleman and the other around a starry-eyed fan, it looked like. "No, that isn't him."

"That's Takigawa 'Chris' Yuu. Not a common name. Did Sleaze-kun tell you his name before or after asking if you followed baseball?"

Makoto hung his head. "I… don't remember."

Rin pocketed his phone and kissed him, quickly. "Don't think about that guy any more." Another kiss, more wilful, wetter. "You don't even know his name."

Makoto drew Rin into his arms and held him close. "I wish you could stay with me," he mumbled. "Even if it's just tonight."

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah," Makoto said. "But your curfew."

"I was kind of worried you were going to dump me," Rin said, sheepishly pointing at the small sports bag he'd left by the door; Makoto hadn't even noticed it. "I asked for an away night back at the beginning of the week. Thought I'd need to be alone, after, so I was planning on going to a hotel."

*

Makoto woke to the first of the things he'd thought he'd never know: Rin's sleeping face.

Last night, they'd ordered pizza and talked about old times, made out, and then turned in to make out even longer, and Makoto had desperately wanted to go further, but at the same time he'd been terrified of what might happen if they did. He didn't want to ruin everything before it even really got started. They'd gone to sleep wrapped up in each other's heat, and if Makoto's morning boner was anything to go by, he probably had nothing to worry about in that department.

Rin's eyes fluttered open. He blinked at the ceiling in confusion and pulled such a grumpy expression that Makoto couldn't help laughing. "Good morning, sunshine."

"S-Shut up," Rin grumbled, flopped onto his stomach, and hid his face in the pillow.

Makoto kissed the spot between his shoulder blades through the thin t-shirt, stretched, and looked outside. They hadn't pulled the curtains closed before going to bed, and the sun must've woken them both. A sunny day with the promise of cherry blossoms.

"Will you come to a blossom viewing party with me?" he asked Rin. "It's this afternoon."

"I'll have to go home to shower and change into off-duty clothes," Rin muttered into the pillow, then turned so he could look at Makoto with one bleary eye. "But it's a date."

[tbc]


	11. Chapter 11

The weather was perfect: bright and spring-warm, with just enough clouds to make the sky interesting. Aomine leaned against one of the tall rocks ringing the town's oldest sakura tree and gazed at the canopy of pink petals above him. He'd never been one for these kinds of things, and maybe this was a sign of impending geezerdom, but looking at the sky through unfurled cherry blossoms, the world felt different -- fuller, brighter.

"We never did one of these together, did we?" Aomine asked, turning to Kagami. "Blossom viewing." 

Kagami frowned, his expression thoughtful. "Guess not," he said after a few moments and turned his attention back to his food.

Not once in six years. What had they been _doing_ all that time? Okay, so maybe the first two years had been kind of a wash, but what about after they'd talked moving in -- hadn't that meant they'd become serious? What about after they'd moved in together? What in the world had Aomine even been trying to get back, all this time? "Funny that now is the first time," he said.

"First time for everything," Kagami agreed. He put his rice ball down and leaned back to reach into the cooler for a beer, using one hand to brace against the blue picnic tarp. _Those fingers have been in my ass,_ Aomine thought somewhat abruptly, and it felt so _weird_ : he didn't even remember what Kagami's touch felt like any more. It would be so easy to just... put his hand on top of Kagami's, lean forward and whisper, _I miss you_ , then hope for Kagami to change his mind. Maybe this time would be different.

But Aomine could see beyond that hand now -- beyond the comfortable safety of sitting close enough for the faint hint of Kagami's favourite soap to reach his nostrils. He loved that scent more than anything, and he inhaled it greedily because this really was good-bye. This party -- remarkably well-attended even though Aomine had never been the most popular member of the Civil Service Association's basketball team (or perhaps it was well-attended because everyone was eager to see the back of him) -- was the last time they'd have a reason to hang out. Their only truly mutual friend was Tetsu, and he wouldn't be visiting until Kagami's birthday week. 

Besides, why would Aomine say _I miss you_ now, when _I love you_ had been beyond him so many times before?

"Hey, are there any more of those flatbreads left?" Riko asked, arriving with Yachiru in tow.

"Pancake bread thing!" Yachiru shouted, shaking a tiny fist at Kagami, who grinned and handed her the last one. "Yay!"

"Damn! I wanted to try one," Aomine complained after Riko was out of earshot. She and Satsuki had come together, but Satsuki was still not speaking to Kagami, so it had fallen to Riko to do most of the child-minding today (Yachiru loved Kagami to pieces and kept finding excuses to wander by).

Kagami looked down at his plate, picked up the untouched flatbread there and ripped it in half -- or tried to; one half was more like a third. He handed Aomine the bigger piece without hesitation, and Aomine's composure slipped. Kagami always did that. Aomine could always count on getting the biggest and nicest pieces of anything Kagami shared with him; he'd grown so used to it that he rarely noticed it happen. Why hadn't Kagami stopped doing that?

He shook his head. "Nah, you eat it. I've changed my mind." 

Being here was bad for him. This was his farewell party; now that he'd eaten his fill, he might as well bid some farewells. Starting right here.

"Hey, so, thanks a lot for putting this together," he said, rising. "I really just came over here to say that."

Kagami looked alarmed, and Aomine couldn't really blame him. He wasn't the type for formal stuff, and the words tasted like dust bunnies.

"We probably won't meet again after today," Aomine offered. "That's why."

Kagami bit his bottom lip briefly, then nodded without looking up at him. "Right."

It would become much harder to leave the longer he stood here staring at Kagami, thinking about his hands and his scent and the goddamned bigger piece of everything. So Aomine just turned his back and went towards a group of his former teammates, leaving Kagami behind.

"You can't leave," Ishidou said as he approached. "If you do, I'll become the team member with the worst personality." She was one of two women on the team, on account of the Association's not having the budget to have a separate women's team. Because of regulations, the women couldn't play even in exhibition matches, which was a real shame in Aomine's opinion: Ishidou was one of the stronger players.

He arranged his face into something like a smile -- it was hard, after having just walked away from Kagami. "That's easily fixed. Improve your personality, and then Midorima will be the worst."

"Technically he's not really _on_ the team," Ishidou pointed out. Midorima came to play with them often, but he wasn't a civil servant.

"Do you think I can't hear you?" Midorima snapped from a nearby bench. He had sat there nursing beer after beer and pretending to suffer Takao's company for pretty much the whole time since the party had started. Midorima was probably the only person in this park unaware of his Earth-sized, long-lasting crush on Takao. Talk about a terrible personality.

After twenty minutes of small talk -- only some of which was forced, for a change -- Aomine chanced a look in Kagami's direction. He'd felt antsy the whole time, feeling drawn to Kagami's side like a fleck of metal to a magnet. It had been easy enough to think he was over Kagami when he'd avoided meeting him, but just knowing he was in the same _park_ made Aomine hyper-conscious of everything he did and said.

Kagami was still by the food tarp, now on his feet and talking to Tachibana, who was apparently being scouted as Aomine's replacement. Tachibana wore a strained smile on his face and Matsuoka on his right arm. In the morning, there'd been a rumour around the police dormitory courtyard that Matsuoka had already requested his first away night, and Aomine didn't have to be a genius to know how and where that night had been spent. If Matsuoka and Tachibana hadn't been in public, they'd be all over each other. "Were we ever that obvious?" he muttered under his breath.

He felt angry and betrayed for some reason he wouldn't have been able to explain even if someone asked him. Stupid Matsuoka with his stupid weird hair and his dumb muscles and his cute new boyfriend. Aomine would find a way to get back at him for--

Someone tugged on his sleeve. "Fancy meeting you here, stranger! You said come to your party, so here we are."

It was Kirigakure and a companion Aomine didn't recognise. He was so fancy it was difficult to decide what to look at first: the flowery yukata, the rich red ponytail, or the eyebrow designs tattooed all the way up to his hairline. The way he carried himself reminded Aomine of Ishidou, who held several MMA championship titles -- he had a martial artist's grace. Between that, his general musclebound hotness, and the tattoos, he was the most interesting person Aomine had met in a decade.

Kirigakure leaned against the man's side. "This is my neighbour, Aomine Daiki. Aomine, this is Abarai Renji, my, erm, cousin."

"Nice to meet you, uh, _cousin_ Abarai," Aomine said, offering a hand. He vaguely remembered Kirigakure mentioning that this guy was supposed to be coming, but that felt like ages ago. _She didn't say he was this hot._

"Call me Renji," the man said, shaking Aomine's hand. "I prefer my given name when I'm off duty. Reminds me I can let my guard down."

Aomine blinked. "Duty?"

"Renji's from Tokyo Vice -- works deep undercover within the yakuza. Our town's just about the only place in Japan he can go on vacation."

"Why's that?" Aomine asked. Beat cops like him didn't get involved in serious criminal investigations, except as drivers and gofers. Besides, theirs was a quiet town thanks to the police residences. Off-duty cops everywhere.

"No yakuza presence," Renji said. "This town's off limits to all of them because of, you know." He put his hands side by side together with four fingers spread, thumbs folded flat against his palms.

"Sharks?" Aomine guessed. He was terrible at charades.

Kirigakure thwapped Renji upside the head. "He's a normal cop like me, not one of your Vice buddies, you twit." She turned to Aomine. "He's talking about the octopus -- the Italian mob. Some important boss of theirs keeps a base here."

"Hilarious," Aomine said, rolling his eyes. He'd heard that one many times before. "That's obviously just a rumour."

"No, I'm serious," Kirigakure said. "You know the man-made island to the left of the docks?"

That island held only a glass-and-steel mansion worthy of a mecha anime and a drawbridge to the portside that rarely came down. Aomine had been sent there once to check out a burglar alarm event, but he'd found only a couple of odd-looking foreign kids who talked like adults and were registered residents on the island. He hadn't been allowed inside the building. "Weird ass place," he said.

"It's owned by the mob," Renji said. "Barilla, or Vongola, or Gorgonzola -- some foody name like that." He had a really nice voice, and the way he said _Gorgonzola_ was especially interesting.

"Say, all this shop talk's making me thirsty," Kirigakure said with a coy expression. "Think you can rustle up some beers, since it's your party and all?"

"Go get your own," he said, pointing in the direction of the coolers. He didn't look, because he was pretty sure seeing Kagami right now would kill any interest he had in this Renji character. He needed to keep that interest going. "Tell him you're with me." Kirigakure glanced over and must have spotted Kagami, because she no longer looked aghast at this extra special display of rudeness.

He watched her saunter off towards the beer coolers for a bit, then turned to Renji. "So, uh, do you like basketball?"

*

Yoruichi lay curled up on top of Aomine's desk, snorting occasionally in her sleep. Aomine, glad of the excuse to not be able to move the papers -- cat claws were sharp and deadly, and Yoruichi's claws were practically a workplace hazard -- sat with his head tipped back and a moistened towel on his forehead. He'd spent the entire weekend partying with Shura and Renji, and he wasn't altogether sure that migrating to first-name basis with his neighbour had been worth this hangover.

Renji was another story; meeting _him_ had been definitely worth it. Aomine couldn't tell if the interest was mutual, but it was really fucking nice to have his head full of a loud-mouthed redhead who wasn't Kagami. Renji's passing resemblance to Kagami -- red hair, ripped chest, generous mouth, thighs that wouldn't quit -- didn't mean anything. Aomine had to start _somewhere_.

The door opened. Yoruichi leapt up into the air, hissed, and darted into the bathroom with remarkable speed even for a cat.

"There you are," Renji said, walking in. "I was visiting a friend down the road and remembered you worked near here."

"Yo," Aomine said, nearly toppling backwards, chair and all -- but only nearly. His reflexes weren't called godlike for nothing, hangover or no hangover. "Come to laugh at the country bumpkin cops in their natural habitat?"

"Yeah, a bit," Renji admitted, looking around. "You guys don't post an officer outside?" Technically, they were supposed to, but they could see the street just fine from the wide window. And who the hell wanted to stand around for hours on end like some statue? Nobody who'd ever worked out of _this_ police box, that was who.

"Senpai, what's an 'arranger'?" Matsuoka asked, emerging from behind his computer screen. He looked so startled at the sight of Renji, Aomine had to wonder if _he_ had worn a similar expression when they'd first met.

Renji's face clouded over. "You've got one of them here in town?"

"Er, no," Matsuoka said. "I was just reading a file. Who are you, by the way?"

"Yeah, who's your friend, Aomine-kun?" Haruno asked, leaning forward on her elbows.

"I'm Renji," Renji said. "Nice to meet you."

-

"So what _is_ an arranger?" Matsuoka insisted after everyone's curiosity about Renji's unusual appearance and exciting origins was duly satisfied. "Do you know any?"

"They're usually called fixers," Renji said. "'Arranger' only came into use a couple of years ago, to distinguish between run of the mill fixers who'll help anyone for a price and people who work exclusively for gangsters. But they have no overt ties to the underworld -- they hide among regular people, kind of like cockroaches in the walls. Anyone could be an arranger."

"So if some guy says he's an arranger--?"

"Then he's lying," Renji said with a disbelieving shake of his head. "That's something only your clients call you amongst themselves, not what you call yourself in any situation. No real arranger's going to advertise, anyway -- kind of defeats the purpose of blending in."

"Huh," Matsuoka said and went right back to his computer. Aomine would normally have gone over to investigate what the hell had been keeping him so quiet all day today, but he was too busy staring at Renji and focussing on the strange flutter in his gut that would start up sometimes when Renji smiled.

He'd noticed it yesterday, but it was a feeling he had long forgotten -- not the crawling dread of yet another inevitable rejection. Not icy-hot pain in the middle of his chest that spread and spread until Aomine wanted to cry. 

Butterflies. He had butterflies in his stomach.

[tbc]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to head off the question now since there is no room for me to make it clear in the text until a future chapter, and I don't want it to be a suspense thing: Aomine is _not_ going to sleep with Renji. ^^;


	12. Chapter 12

The voices woke Makoto so abruptly that at first he thought he had switched from a dream about running late to work and being held up at several dozen successive railway crossings to one where he startled awake in a large room not his own. One half of the room held an oversized velvet sofa that might've been purple once, facing an old, bulky analog TV set that hadn't worked in several years. A row of bunk beds lined the opposite wall, with Makoto in the top bunk in the corner farthest from a brightly lit corridor.

He remembered climbing up here thinking it looked especially cosy. Oh, right: he wasn't dreaming. He had, for the first time since he'd started at this firehouse, made use of the sleeping quarters -- because he'd had almost no sleep before his Sunday shift. He and Rin had spent all of Saturday together, right up until Makoto had to leave for his shift at seven. It was a weekend shift, only twelve hours, but Makoto had been worried about not being at his best because of too little sleep, so he'd gone up to the sleeping quarters as soon as he was able. Even an hour-long nap would've been enough.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, and he was just about to get out his phone to check when he noticed the people on the sofa -- the source of the voices -- in his peripheral vision. Instinctively, he lay back down so as not to be seen.

"What the hell were you expecting?" Tatsumi was asking.

"I wasn't expecting anything," Kagami replied, exasperated. "Just because I always knew it was going to happen one day doesn't mean I'm not allowed to feel bad about it."

"That's stupid. If you knew it was going to happen, you should've steeled yourself and been prepared. But look at you. You're _heartbroken_. You're worse than a kicked puppy."

_Heartbroken?_ Makoto wondered. The lieutenant _had_ looked a bit sombre at shift start, but Makoto had assumed he was just sleepy. It was a common problem for the Sunday night shift.

"It's not stupid," Kagami said, voice so low Makoto had to strain to hear him. "It's like, I know that my grandma will probably die soon. Using your logic, just because I know it's going to happen I should prepare myself and ask a pair of clowns to perform at her funeral instead of a monk?"

"I'm sorry to hear that about your grandmother. Has she been ill long?"

"No, she's fine. She's just really _old_." Kagami's voice wavered. "Shit."

"Sorry."

"No worries. I should call her, anyway."

"So -- what are you going to do?" Tatsumi asked. "About Aomine, I mean."

"Nothing," Kagami said. "Why does nobody get it? If any of it were just about _me_ , I'd never have left. It's not about me. I left because _he_ deserves better."

"I've heard that a million times already, and after all this time I don't see why _you_ get to decide who deserves what. Did someone make you lord commander of humanity while I wasn't looking?"

"I'm not lord of anything," Kagami mumbled. "I just know Aomine."

"Fine. Let's not have that argument again. The point is, he waited for you to change your mind; you know he did. You have no right to feel like he's betraying you."

Makoto lay quietly, guilt gnawing at his stomach. They'd obviously come here thinking no one else was in the room, and this was _very_ clearly a private conversation -- he hadn't even known that Kagami and Tatsumi were close enough to discuss such private matters. He had been under the impression that the Kagami and Aomine thing had ended years ago, but perhaps he'd misunderstood. Makoto hadn't spoken to Aomine much, but he didn't seem like the sort of person who would suffer waiting very long. Besides, the bitterness and dejection in Kagami's tone came through so strongly; it reminded Makoto of Rin right after he'd come back from Australia, having lost his way.

"You're right." Kagami sighed heavily. "In a few weeks it'll be twelve years since we first met. I guess I've been letting that get to me."

"You made note of the date? That's surprising."

"I don't remember the exact date, but I remember the season. He challenged me to a one-on-one."

"Did you win?"

"I wish. I was recovering from an injury, but even if I hadn't been, back then I was no match for him. All I could do was watch him leave, disappointed in me."

In this, unexpectedly, Makoto could relate, a little. Kagami's words reminded him of the feeling he had watching Rin and Haru walk towards that empty pool in then-abandoned Iwatobi Swim Club. Haru was just Haru, but Rin was so cool and mysterious: not even a shadow of the smiling, optimistic boy Makoto remembered. Rin had paid him no mind; Makoto might as well have been one of the smashed-up lockers. He had felt drawn in by that coldness, wondering if he could melt it -- or if he'd drown in it. Since then, Rin had always, always been on his mind.

"And now you're going to do it again," Tatsumi said. "Watch him leave, disappointed in you."

"I guess that's how it was always supposed to go down."

Tatsumi clicked her tongue. "Men are stubborn, ridiculous fools."

"Lieutenant? Are you in here?" It was Shimogamo's voice, anxious. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt--"

"It's fine," Kagami said. The couch creaked mournfully as it always did whenever anyone so much as blew on it. "The auxiliary power unit again?" Kagami sounded as worn out as the couch.

"I'm sorry!"

"You idiot," Tatsumi remarked. Truthfully, Makoto wasn't sure which of the two she was addressing.

Their voices receded. Makoto stayed in his dark corner until the dispatch siren summoned the squad to a fire near the docks. He resolved to pretend he hadn't heard anything. None of it was any of his business. And he had kissed Rin just a few short hours ago, so it was arrogant to think he could relate.

*

"How do you draw the curtains?" Rin asked, standing by Makoto's window with a puzzled expression. "They don't want to move."

Makoto eyed the microwave anxiously. It was only reheating pizza for Rin, but he had the mysterious power of ruining any dish, no matter how basic. Pizza was, for some unfathomable reason, especially easy to ruin in a microwave. Because of that, he usually ate his leftover pizza cold, but he couldn't very well offer that to Rin.

"Makoto?" Rin asked again. "The curtains?"

"There's a stick, grab that and pull," Makoto said. Should he stop the timer and check?

Rin snickered. "Sounds inappropriate."

_Inappropriate? Why?_ Makoto hurried over to the window. "Here, I'll show you."   
But before he made it there, Rin found the pull rod, and the curtain slid across the window. The edge of unease vanished from Makoto's mind. He'd asked Rin to close the curtains because the lights were on, and it was growing dark outside, which meant anyone with a pair of binoculars could see inside the apartment. 

"Now nobody can see us," he murmured, eyes glued to the back of Rin's neck. A lock of his hair had become trapped beneath his shirt collar. Makoto lifted it out with one finger and brushed his knuckle against the side of Rin's neck. Rin tilted his head to the side, as if to ask to be petted again, like a kitten, and Makoto's chest brimmed with longing so fierce that before he knew it, he had both arms around Rin's shoulders and his cheek against Rin's.

"Sorry," Makoto muttered. "For grabbing you suddenly." He had been so sure he wasn't the type to do brash, impulsive things like that.

"What if I want you to?"

Makoto tightened his arms. "Do you?"

Rin reached up with both hands and laid them over Makoto's crossed forearms.

The microwave _ding_ ed.

"Your pizza," Makoto whispered.

"Screw the pizza," Rin whispered back.

"That would be hot," Makoto said, hoping that a terrible joke could scale down the intensity that was starting to build between them. His half of it coiled in his gut like a too-tight spring.

Rin turned to him, clearly scandalised.

"In the temperature way, not the other way!" Makoto said, smiling a little, glad that the moment was lost. 

He wanted Rin, but he didn't think he could follow through on it -- not yet. Whenever he tried to think about being intimate with Rin, not-Yuu's face, which he'd thought he had all but forgotten, would suddenly loom in his mind's eye. He felt like he had no right to even stand close to Rin, with the other one still in his head. It had only been a couple of days since he'd told Rin everything, so he was sure it would pass. He just had to wait a little longer.

He moved to let go of Rin, but Rin's hands restrained him.

"Don't," Rin murmured. "I like this."

Makoto smiled into Rin's hair. "Me too."

Rin turned to kiss him, but Makoto felt so guilty for having thought of not-Yuu again, he barely reacted.

"Makoto?"

"I'm sorry," Makoto said. "You said not to think about… the past, but I can't help it. It's still on my mind." He went back to the microwave and stared at the pizza slice, sad and lonely on its soggy paper towel.

Rin came over and took his hand. "I didn't mean that like 'I'll get mad if you do', Makoto."

"I know! It's just that I've been in love with you for so long, I--" Makoto realised what he'd said and bit his lip. "I mean. Um." _I've been in love with you for so long that now I want everything I've ever daydreamed of to happen all at once._ He stole a glance at Rin's face.

Rin's eyes were very wide. "You-- you what?"

_Now he's going to think I'm the creepiest._ Makoto looked aside, at their water glasses on the low table in the main room; Rin's was empty. "Do you remember when you came back from Australia and you met us at the old swim club?" He didn't wait for a response. "You were so… elegant, I guess. Different from everyone I knew, but not in a bad way. After that, I kept thinking about you, wondering what kinds of things you'd experienced in Australia."

"I just thought -- I thought you were amazing, but you barely even looked at me, like I wasn't worth a second glance." He looked into Rin's eyes. "I guess it made me want to prove to you that I was worth at least that much. But I'm not very good at confrontations and I'm not cool at all. So I just left you annoying voice mails."

"They weren't annoying."

Makoto smiled. "Soon it became clear that you were most passionate about your rivalry with Haru. So I gave up trying to get your attention, but somehow I couldn't stop wanting it. Because I'd fallen for you, though I didn't really understand that until-- well, later." He wasn't about to start telling Rin about the embarrassing dreams he'd started having.

"But when we said goodbye, you--"

"You remember that? I was-- you took me by surprise. I'm not really a think-on-my-feet kind of guy. Besides, I wasn't about to try and hold you back from your dream."

Rin inhaled slowly, then exhaled even slower, as though preparing for a deep dive. He took Makoto's other hand and looked into his face. "You beat me to it by about a month."

"Beat you to--?"

"After I came back to Iwatobi, you kept calling, encouraging me not to give up and stuff. Everyone else just acted like I wasn't even there, my attitude was too inconvenient, but you kept trying. Even though I ignored you." Rin dug a hand into his hair and turned aside. "Then I saw you with Haru at one of our meets, and you were only looking at him. It made me angry."

"Angry?" Makoto took Rin's hand back.

"I was going through a lot of weird stuff back then. I guess-- I guess I wanted you to look at me like that. The way you looked at Haru. Part of it was that I wanted to take you away from him so Haru would know what it was like to have no one. I thought it would push him to be more competitive somehow. But I knew you'd never leave his side, and that made me angry, but not because of Haru."

"Rin…"

"Before I knew it, I was thinking of you, wishing you'd look at me that way. I wanted to be alone with you, if only to ask you if you really meant all those nice things you always said on the phone. When I told you to help me with that cat who hated me, I kept trying to find a moment to-- ask you if I was even a little special. In the end, I couldn't."

Makoto had forgotten about that. He'd kept hiding behind Rin, equal parts scared of the angry cat (who turned out to be angry at Rin only) and elated that Rin had invited him somewhere.

"I could play it cool because nobody ever suspected _you_ were on my mind. Everyone, even Sousuke, was sure I was fixated on Haru. And I was, in the sense that I wanted to keep chasing him as my rival. But you were the one I wanted... with me. I never thought you might have been thinking of me too."

"I was," Makoto said, squeezing Rin's hands. "I never thought _you_ might've been thinking of me." He smiled.

Rin smiled back. "I thought I got over it, but the minute I saw you after moving here, I just-- I--" Rin swallowed, looked away, his expression vaguely frantic, and then looked back at Makoto with resolve in his eyes. "I want to be with you no matter what, Makoto. Meeting you again made putting my dreams on hold worth it."

[tbc]


	13. Chapter 13

Aomine picked up his desk phone, dialled the central dispatch in Shizuoka, and asked to be connected to Shura. Haruno and Matsuoka were off writing parking tickets, so it was now or never. Renji's ten days were up, and he was leaving tonight. Aomine wanted to know if he needed to bury his crush or let it stay. 

Normally he would have just asked Renji himself, but if the news wasn't good, Shura would never let him live it down. Plus, he didn't want anyone around when it happened. He'd put himself through such a wringer lately that he wasn't sure he'd have a grin and off-colour joke ready to go if Renji gave him some bad news.

Shura picked up. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just had a question. Which you should keep between us."

"I thought you might. He's taken."

Aomine's hand tightened on the receiver. "What? Who? I was going to ask you about this rash I've been having."

"Shouldn't you be talking to a doctor about your weird rashes? Anyway, that's how it is."

"Right. I'll talk to you later."

_Taken_. There had been a time when knowing that wouldn't have deterred Aomine -- he wasn't exactly after a lifelong commitment here -- but that was before Kagami cheated on him. He wasn't going to be the guy who tries to make another guy cheat.

He'd had a good time hanging out with Renji, and he knew now that there _was_ life after Kagami. He'd needed to know that. And the butterflies had been a nice change -- one he would welcome again, any time. He just had to start looking ahead of himself instead of constantly turning around to check if Kagami was still there.

Also, it was nice to know _why_ Renji hadn't seemed the least bit interested. Nice, but bitter-tasting. Why couldn't Kagami have given Kise that kind of friendly indifference? He'd said Kise had been _charming_. What the hell did that even mean? If he'd really loved--

Aomine stared at the office phone blankly. Wasn't that the point Kagami had been making all along? That the feelings he thought he had couldn't have been real if he was so easily seduced?

Fuck, this was pathetic. He'd barely thought of Kagami all week, but now that Renji was off the table, he was going right back to where he'd started. Part of it was the town, probably. There wasn't really anyone living here who could keep Aomine's interest for long -- and after his post-breakup rampage through the town's single-and-willing population, it would be best for everyone if he looked elsewhere. Even though it would've felt really good to let Kagami _see_ that he'd moved on. Aomine still remembered the triumph he'd felt when Kagami had walked in on him and… well, someone. Aomine didn't remember his name.

_Aomine lifts his head. Kagami stands in the doorway, looking like he's just played the final basketball game of his life and his team lost. Oh yeah, he'd mentioned something about coming by to pack the rest of his stuff._

Good _, Aomine thinks with a deeply savage sort of satisfaction that's on some level better than even sex. He turns his attention back to whomever it is he's with. Black hair, soft brown eyes. "It's just my roommate."_

Even now, almost two years later, Aomine can still feel the depth of that dark joy. But if he were to see Kagami make such a face today, he'd drop everything to rush to Kagami's side and try to fix it. But since that day, Kagami's face had remained calm and blank, except for the six times Aomine managed to make him laugh.

So having feelings for Kagami hadn't stopped him from having a good time with others. _That was different. I was hurt and angry._ But the fact remained: he'd had all sorts of sex, and he'd loved it, despite his feelings for Kagami.

Did that mean those feelings hadn't been what he'd assumed? Was love something so profound that it prevented you from feeling pleasure at another's touch, in another's company? Kagami certainly seemed to think so. By that standard, maybe neither of them had ever loved the other.

_I don't think it would feel like that if I did it with someone else, is what I'm trying to say._

Aomine closed his eyes. Had it felt the same for him? Had there even _been_ anything special -- or extra nice, to use Kagami's words -- about being with Kagami, compared to being with other people? He couldn't remember. Maybe, all along, he'd just been attached to the idea of Kagami-and-Aomine, some idealised version of their relationship that had only existed in his head.

"Fuck!" It pissed him off that he hadn't even considered that a possible side effect of bad news about Renji would be a fucking spiral right back into the Kagami thing. 

Aomine peered around the police box for something to do, spotted an unfinished pile of folders on Matsuoka's desk. and walked over to grab them. He'd be grateful for _anything_ to distract him, so even work would do.

He glanced briefly at Matsuoka's computer screen and noticed that he'd forgotten to lock his workstation. It was a new regulation handed to IT from the top brass in Tokyo: all officers with access to the central database had a duty to safeguard said database and thus all were required to lock their computers whenever not using them. It was really stupid: that database was only accessible from police boxes and detective offices; no member of the general public was ever going to be let near the computers there.

Aomine forgot to lock his screen all the time, so he was about to just go ahead and do it when he remembered all these weird questions Matsuoka had been asking over the past week and a half. Had he got himself in some kind of trouble? He didn't look like the type, but Aomine didn't look like the type to take years to get over a breakup, yet here he was.

He sat down in Matsuoka's chair and pulled up his recent database query history. Aomine was no technical wizard, but it wouldn't take one to figure out that Matsuoka had been searching for people arrested or convicted for article 175 violations -- obscene objects; distribution of and/or possession with intent to sell -- starting in a place called Kurayoshi and then expanding, methodically, first to the east, and then to the west of there.

Matsuoka had tried narrowing the results by searching for the words _arranger_ , _Takigawa_ , _impersonate_ , and _blackmail_ in the interrogation notes. The only Takigawa Aomine knew of was that one baseball dude Haruno had had a crush on last summer. He was apparently a famous wide receiver. Or whatever the hell that position was called.

So Matsuoka seemed to be looking for an illegal pornographer who was either impersonating this Takigawa character or employing an impersonator, to blackmail him? Perhaps trying to claim ties to organised crime by pretending to be a yakuza fixer? But that didn't make any sense. A famous baseball star didn't need a backwoods rookie cop doing research to protect his reputation; he could probably get a task force appointed by the commissioner to do it for him. Hell, they'd probably do it for free and bury the expenses in the ongoing country-wide initiative against organised crime syndicates.

It sounded like the kind of police work Aomine kind of wanted to do. Hanging out with Renji -- hearing about work centered around sex, drugs, and gangs -- had reminded him of that. Too bad the path to detective was paved with overtime and ass-kissing. 

*

Aomine caught up to Matsuoka before he turned the corner. "Wait up."

Matsuoka gave him a suspicious sidelong look. "Senpai?"

"While you were gone today, you forgot to lock your workstation."

"Shit-- er, I mean, oops. It won't happen again."

"No, I don't care about that. I happened to have a look at what you've been doing during your downtime."

Matsuoka glared at him, saying nothing. Of course, there was nothing he _could_ say; though their rank was the same, Aomine had seniority. He could go through Matsuoka's pockets if he wanted to.

"It sounds interesting," Aomine pressed on. "Let me help."

Matsuoka blinked at him slowly, and then shook his head. "It's--"

"You've been on the force for two minutes," Aomine interrupted. "What do you think you can do on your own?"

Matsuoka frowned but didn't say a word.

"Right now, I bet you couldn't even call dispatch in Shizuoka without getting stonewalled because nobody knows who you are."

"I know," Matsuoka muttered, his expression gloomy. "Though I called Ku-- uh, someplace else."

_Kurayoshi._ "I've been at this a while. Lots of people around who know me. More importantly, I've got people who owe me favours."

"You could always wait until you need those favours for yourself. Why are you so interested in this, senpai?"

Matsuoka was really smart, so Aomine decided to go with the truth. "I've got some personal shit going on, and I could use a distraction that doesn't involve getting shitfaced every night."

"Because of the blood test rumours?"

After a series of high-profile incidents involving cops who had been drinking, word was coming down the line that there would be surprise -- and, of course, mandatory -- blood tests for intoxicants, administered at shift start. The way Aomine had been carrying on lately, what with the drinking too much and not eating or sleeping enough, he wouldn't be surprised if he still had a too-high blood alcohol level first thing in the morning.

"That's part of it," Aomine said. "Mostly I just need something to keep my mind busy."

"I appreciate the offer," Matsuoka said after a brief pause, seeming to mean it. "But it's... not about me. So I'll have to think about it."

Aomine sighed. "Fine. Think about it. Don't take too long, or I'll start looking for Jack the Ripper's identity or something."

*

"We sincerely apologise for the delay. Debris on the tracks ahead is now being removed, and we will resume the journey shortly."

Aomine leaned his temple against the train window. The train had screeched to a halt right outside the rubber factory -- the smell had been almost unbearable at first, but after fifteen minutes, he had to concentrate to notice it.

He remembered Satsuki's lecture on human adaptability, the one she did for some important university project and made him listen to like ten times, to make sure she was prepared. And then, like a spotlight on a stage, that time he'd been lifting weights at the community gym a couple of years ago, right next to a young coach addressing a small group of young girls taking their first self-defence class.

_"In terms of resilience, this punching bag is a lot like a human soul, if you think about it," the woman says. "It will hang there and retain its shape even after a thousand punches and kicks. Even if you slash it with a knife, it'll stay serviceable as long as you don't cut too deep. The only way to make it completely useless is to gut it. Souls are hard to break."_

_Aomine wipes sweat off his shoulders and moves on to the rowing machine on the opposite end of the gym._ Hell of a thing to tell a bunch of kids, _he thinks_.

The train lurched into motion. "Thank you for your patience, and sorry for the wait. The next station is Mochimune."

Three more stops, up a flight of stairs, left, left, and there was the Sand Cats' gym: a run-down little place, as befitted a never-has-been little team that barely keeps its league certification.

A few guys in workout clothes came through the door, affording Aomine no more than passing glances. Aomine walked in and down a brightly lit corridor, its off-white walls peeling in large chunks. Ahead, someone was driving the ball across the floor.

When he reached the gym and saw who it was, he almost turned around and left, but he didn't. This shit was getting embarrassing: he needed to stop having a fucking meltdown every time he encountered anyone or anything that reminded him of Kagami.

"Kiyoshi Teppei," Aomine said.

Kiyoshi caught the ball in both hands and turned around, his eyes widening in recognition. "Ao...mine?"

Aomine leaned on the wall and folded his arms. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I'll say," Kiyoshi replied with a cautious grin.

"Didn't know you played for the Sand Cats," Aomine said. He didn't follow them very closely, granted, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud.

Kiyoshi shook his head. "My playing days are done." He gestured at his knee.

Aomine frowned. "Didn't you have some fancy surgery to fix that?"

"I did, and I got better for a while, but with these sorts of injuries, you only get a reprieve, never a pardon."

"So what are you up to now?" Aomine gestured vaguely at his surroundings.

"I'm the assistant coach."

"Oh, good. How do I join?"

[tbc]


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I'm sorry this took longer than usual! I got distracted by other shiny things. /o\ The next chapter might be delayed as well because I have a fest fic in a completely different fandom that I need to write before the end of the month.

"Do you think I should buy a couch?" Makoto asked, handing Rin a beer.

Rin took the can and set it atop the coffee table. "Where would you put it?"

Makoto put his own beer down on the windowsill and surveyed the room from the window's vantage point. His bed took up a lot of the available space -- with a smallish sofa, even tucked up against the end of the bed, there wouldn't be much room for two people to turn around unless he got rid of the coffee table. These apartments hadn't been built for much more than sleep and meals for one. Small town real estate prices were low enough so firefighters who had families could afford to buy houses, and with the nearby cities expanding to take over abandoned farmland, new homes sprang up like ryegrass.

"That's a good question," he said. "I was just thinking that it could be nice to have one in case we want to watch a movie or something." They'd watched one on TV yesterday, but it hadn't been as nice sitting on the floor as it had been at the movies on their first date.

Rin, who had started to drink from his beer can, put it back down somewhat abruptly. Makoto flushed. Yuu had always teased him about making too many assumptions about how much time they were going to spend together in the future. "I'm sorry," he said with a sigh as he sat down next to Rin. "I didn't mean to be creepy."

Rin frowned slightly. "You aren't creepy. I just -- I'm going to the summer qualifier, you know? I plan to pass. Then I'll be so busy I'll barely have time to get enough sleep, let alone come over as often as I do now."

"Oh."

"Sousuke said that once I'm back, coach wants me to get transferred to work in Tokyo, to be closer to everything."

"Oh," Makoto repeated, feeling like someone had just knocked the breath out of him.

"I told them both I'm not going anywhere."

"You aren't?"

"Even if I wanted to, jobs in the police department don't exactly grow on trees, especially not in the capital. But I don't want to move." Rin looked at Makoto.

Makoto's heart sped up. "Why not?"

Rin blushed. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

_I want to be with you no matter what_. Makoto looked away, torn between cautious optimism and guilt. "That's a really long commute."

"It's only an hour by bullet train."

"You're not counting the twenty minutes it takes to get to the Shizuoka bullet train from the local train station. And the time to the train station from here. And a time buffer just in case. And that's one way." Why was he even saying these things? He didn't want Rin to go away again.

Rin shrugged. "I'll make it work."

Makoto picked up the beer can and drained it in several large gulps. "We'll barely see each other."

"Better than not seeing you at all. Even if you did just drink my beer."

Makoto's face flamed. "Sorry." He'd completely forgotten about his own can on the windowsill.

"Makoto."

Makoto didn't know if it was the beer or what, but his head started spinning when Rin pulled him close. Soft, slow kisses, their lips barely parted. Makoto's hands clutching Rin's shirt. Rin's fingers in Makoto's hair. Makoto's mouth on Rin's neck, his insides twisting into knots and unravelling. It was as though time stopped to catch its breath.

"I think I want to take your clothes off," Makoto whispered against Rin's shoulder. His shirt was in the way.

"I think I want to help," Rin murmured.

There were buttons near Rin's shirt collar that Makoto tried to pry from their holes for a few moments before realising they were decorative. He pulled Rin's shirt off over his head and started to fold it nervously when Rin yanked it out of his hands, tossed it aside, and straddled Makoto's lap. Makoto held him close, one hand moving down his back; the sweats Rin wore had slid down and exposed his underwear. Makoto slipped his fingers underneath the wide band at the top, and Rin kissed him with an urgency that made Makoto feel so light-headed he had to pull away to keep from tipping over.

Rin made Makoto take his shirt off, throwing it onto the coffee table where it upended the empty beer can, which rolled to the floor with a clatter. Makoto brushed the middle of Rin's upper chest with his fingertips, recalling with sharp clarity the many times he'd lain awake on nights after joint practice sessions with Samezuka, reaching up towards the ceiling, imagining Rin there, wearing nothing but that signature look of mild irritation that he always used to get whenever Makoto spoke to him.

"Is there something wrong with my chest?"

Makoto sprang back, feeling guilty. He'd been staring. "Sorry," he said. "I was just thinking that I always wanted to do that."

Rin leaned closer. "Just that? Here I thought you were going to take off _all_ my clothes."

Makoto smoothed his hand down Rin's arm and kissed the side of Rin's neck. Rin's low, conspiratorial tone made his lower belly ache with unexpected sweetness. "And here I thought you were going to help," he murmured. He had expected to be nervous, but he wasn't -- all he felt was excitement so fierce he could lose his wits. "Do you want to move to the bed?"

Rin nodded. Makoto rose and extended his hand to help Rin up. Once on his feet, Rin stared at their clasped hands. "I always wanted you to do that," he said.

"What?" Makoto asked. They'd definitely held hands already, enough times that he'd lost count.

Rin squeezed his fingers. "You used to help Haru out of the pool like this, do you remember? You'd look at him like he was everything."

"I wish I'd known that before," Makoto said, putting his free hand on the nape of Rin's neck and laying a kiss against his temple. "Then I could've done this sooner." He kissed Rin's earlobe. "And this." He kissed the corner of Rin's mouth. His heart was racing. 

Rin put his arms around Makoto's shoulders and kissed him briefly, but wet and deep. "What else?"

Makoto put his thumbs into the waistband of Rin's underpants and pushed them down, along with his sweats. "Let's find out." They were only halfway to the bed, but he couldn't wait -- and yet at the same time, what if he--

"Touch me," Rin breathed.

Makoto wavered for a second longer. Rin grabbed his right hand and put it where he wanted it. Makoto was used to that, and he wrapped his fingers around Rin's cock without even thinking about it. He expected continued direction -- _no, you're too gentle, do it harder, move faster, squeeze it more, it won't break_ \-- but Rin only tipped his head forward onto Makoto's shoulder and closed his eyes, exhaling harshly. Rin's arms wrapped so tightly around him he could feel every twitch of muscle, and Makoto just kept stroking Rin's cock until Rin's hips started to move in time with his hand and his arms tensed up. A few seconds later, Rin gasped and started thrusting up into Makoto's hand, spilling into it, his breath hot and harsh against Makoto's bare shoulder.

"Sorry," Rin muttered after his breathing evened out.

"For what?" Makoto leaned over awkwardly to grab the box of tissues from the table with his empty hand and began to clean up.

"Nothing," Rin said, letting go of Makoto. His face was pink. "Never mind." He grabbed a pair of tissues. 

Some of Rin's come had gotten onto the front of Makoto's jeans. Rin tried to swipe at it, but Makoto stopped him. "It'll wash out," he said, unbuttoning the jeans.

"Want me to do you now?" Rin asked.

Makoto let his jeans drop and pulled him down to the bed. "In a bit." He didn't want Rin doing anything out of a sense of obligation -- he had just come, so there was no way he'd be into it right now. If there had been one good thing he'd learned from not-Yuu, it was that there were no orgasm quotas, and not having one didn't mean any kind of failure.

_Oh, no._ Here he was thinking about not-Yuu again, even as he watched Rin settle into bed. Rin was naked in his bed -- all Makoto wanted was to make him come again, and maybe get a look at his face this time -- and yet his thoughts had strayed to the past. Makoto bit his lip.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked, turning to face him.

"I did it again, I thought about, you know. It feels like some weird curse." Makoto watched Rin's eyebrows draw together fleetingly and decided that there was a limit to honesty. He didn't want Rin to think he was still hung up on not-Yuu, because he wasn't. He'd give anything to just forget he ever spent any time in Kurayoshi.

"Was he the first one you, um." Rin gestured vaguely between the two of them.

"Yeah."

Rin's jaw tightened. "Don't you want him to pay for what he did to you?" he asked.

Makoto frowned. "I-- Not really," he said.

Rin nodded. "Okay." He didn't look convinced. 

"Do you think I should want him to pay?" Makoto asked. "It's not like he can give me back my time, or my feelings, you know? I'd rather just forget about him." 

"You know that what he did was illegal, right?"

"I didn't know it was illegal to lie about your relationship goals," Makoto said with a small smile. He could understand that Rin, to whom things like winning and losing were very important, might interpret Makoto's experience as a sort of loss and want him to get a chance at a sort of rematch. But Makoto just didn't see it that way. "I didn't give him permission to take those photos, but I could never prove that I didn't. It would be a case of whose words weigh more."

"No, that's not it. He told you somebody paid him to get photos of you, well, below the waist, right?"

Makoto nodded.

"Even if he claims to have had your consent to take the photos, he has to have your written consent to distribute them. Otherwise you can sue him for character assassination. And unless he put a mosaic over your dick before passing on the photos, then they are considered obscene under the criminal code, and he could go to jail for selling them to even one person."

Makoto smiled, feeling a bit intimidated. He didn't think he'd ever had occasion to hear the expression 'criminal code' in a normal conversation before. "You've really looked into this, haven't you?"

Rin lifted an eyebrow. "I knew most of it already since I'm a cop and all."

"I'm really grateful that you've thought about it to such an extent," Makoto said, meaning it. "But I really just want to get past it. Even if you find out where he sold the pictures, won't I get in trouble? For being in them, I mean? Unless I make some kind of official complaint beforehand that I didn't know I was being filmed, I'm guessing. But I don't want anyone else to know what Yuu--er, that man did. Not even the police."

"I hadn't thought about it that way," Rin said with a thoughtful expression. "What if we try to find out if he's done it to anyone else? Maybe that person would be willing to press charges and we can keep you out of it."

Makoto's blood ran slow and icy. "W-Wait, you think he's done it more than once? To other people?"

Rin shrugged. "I don't know. But now that he's pulled it off, he'll probably decide to do it again. It's basically a given that if a con is successful, the criminal is almost sure to try doing the same thing, since it's already a proven payoff."

Makoto shook his head. "No, that's not right. I don't want anyone else to go through that. Do you think me telling you can count as my statement? I might die of embarrassment if I have to tell a stranger, even if it's a police officer."

Rin gave him the side eye. "So you'll let it go if it's just you who's involved, but you won't let a hypothetical stranger suffer? You should care about yourself more."

Makoto smiled and leaned over to kiss him. "That's what Haru always says, too. So, does your offer from before still stand?"

[tbc]


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh sorry this is late! I had to get my bearings and plan out the story in more detail through to the ending, which took a bit of extra time. Since a few of you have asked, it looks like it will be finished at 24 chapters (plus probably an epilogue) but I'm not 100% sure of that yet so I'm not putting a final chapter count up yet. I will in a couple of chapters though. Sorry again for being late and I hope you enjoy! \o/

Aomine blew on his coffee and eyed the National Police Association desk calendar that he'd brought back from an ethics training seminar last autumn.

He'd missed the regular Sand Cats tryout by a measly week, but there would be another near the end of August. Kiyoshi had said the head coach wouldn't be inclined to go easy on him. First, though the Sand Cats couldn't afford to be picky about veteran players, Aomine didn't count; he'd been strictly bush league for too long. Second, he was too old. Not officially -- the rule book said nothing about age, but everyone knew you had to stop somewhere. And for every guy who didn't have the good sense to know when to stop, there were coaches who did.

_So I'll spend time at the gym and put some hours into practice instead of going out drinking every night,_ Aomine thought as he took a cautious first sip of his coffee. Still too hot. He blew on it again. If at first you don't succeed, you try again; isn't that how the saying went? It felt good to have a goal.

"I'm going to make the morning rounds," Haruno said. "Don't set the place on fire while I'm out. And don't eat all of the chocolate."

No sooner had she shut the door behind her, than Matsuoka handed him an incident report form filled out in his handwriting.

"What's this?" Aomine asked, accepting, then saw _Tachibana Makoto_ under _Name of Complainant_ and raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Boy Wonder's the one mixed up in your pornographic blackmail mystery? Never would have pegged him for the type."

"He's not _mixed up_ in anything," Matsuoka said with a scowl. "And please keep this to yourself; I don't want to involve Haruno-senpai."

Aomine gave him a scowl in return. "Oh, is _that_ why you waited till she was gone to give me the report? I'm not five years old, you know."

"Sorry," Matsuoka muttered, but Aomine was already reading through the report. 

Nasty bit of business. If whoever commissioned this so-called arranger ended up having to face the justice system, they'd try to argue that if Tachibana hadn't wanted to sexually excite anyone, he shouldn't have posed half-naked for that firefighter calendar. That kind of argument -- 'the victim asked to be victimised' -- often met with sympathy in the courts, typically resulting in fines instead of jail time. Judges were under constant pressure from politicians to keep prison populations low while conviction rates remained high. Any mitigating factor, no matter how flimsy, was taken into account during sentencing. But Aomine was just a uniform; he wasn't paid enough to sympathise with criminals.

"So where's this creep now?" Aomine asked after he read the final sentence.

"I don't know," Matsuoka said. Before Aomine could react, he'd snatched the report out of Aomine's hands. "I'm not filing that, by the way."

Aomine sighed. "You know we can't do anything without it. If there's no report, there's no crime."

"All we need to do is find another victim and convince them to report it."

With a frown, Aomine thought back to how _slick_ the execution had seemed even as he'd been reading. "Yeah, I guess Tachibana probably wasn't this character's first mark. So you want this guy put away, but not for what he did to your boyfriend?"

Matsuoka nodded. "I'm not making Makoto testify once we do catch him."

Aomine rolled his eyes. "Confident, aren't you?"

"You're the one who said you knew lots of people, senpai." 

"Fine, fine. Let me make some calls and see what I can rustle up." He pulled up a prefectural map on his computer screen to see which jurisdiction Kurayoshi fell into. "I don't know anyone there, but I do know somebody near enough."

Matsuoka sat down on the edge of Aomine's desk as Aomine began to scroll through his phone contacts. 

Now a junior Ministry of Finance bureaucrat in a neighbouring prefecture, Imayoshi Shoucihi was his best bet for this kind of thing. Imayoshi would likely not be able to find any more victims like Matsuoka wanted, but he was exactly the kind of guy to know the sorts of people who would hire a con artist to get their hands on some cute firefighter's dick pics. Perverts were everywhere, but there weren't that many perverts with the kind of money such elaborate plans required. Imayoshi had always made it his business to know exactly what people he came into contact with were about. In the three or so years since Aomine and Imayoshi had last spoken, his little black book had probably tripled in size.

Aomine stopped at Imayoshi's name in his contact list and made sure to pick his cell rather than his office number -- that would just get him to the secretary, who would surely stonewall him until he left a callback number to pass on. The phone rang for almost a full minute before the line connected.

"As I live and breathe," Imayoshi said on the other end. "Please don't say you're in trouble for insubordination again because my contact in your jurisdiction was transferred to Fukuoka last year."

"I'm not in trouble," Aomine said, bristling. Honestly, you ask a guy for a tiny favour when you're fresh out of the academy and haven't quite learned your place in the pecking order yet, and he forever thinks you'll never learn a thing. "I'm trying to find somebody in your neck of the woods, but I don't have a name."

"What do you have?"

"Male, late twenties, no distinguishing features, no known address or associates, though claims to be an arranger. Likes to trick innocent young people into fake relationships so he can secretly film them having sex with him. Uses semi-famous people's names as aliases -- Takigawa Chris was a recent pseudonym."

Imayoshi laughed. "Aomine-kun, just what is it that you think I'm into that I'd be acquainted with such a person?"

"Oh, he doesn't do it as a hobby. Someone pays him, and I'm guessing it's not taxable. I bet you might know a person or eight who has that kind of cash alongside those kinds of tastes."

Rapid clacking of computer keyboard keys came from Imayoshi's end of the line. "I see. It might be that you're right. I'll have to make some inquiries."

"How long?"

"That depends. Do you have any more information than you already gave me just now?"

Aomine thought about asking Matsuoka for a copy of Tachibana's statement with the complainant's name censored, but decided against it. It was unlikely that Kurayoshi's fire department, which was mentioned by name in the incident report, had much employee turnover -- fire stations rarely did. And Imayoshi would certainly be curious enough to try and find out the victim's identity. "That's all I've got. Confidentiality, you know."

"Then it might take a few weeks."

"Losing your touch, Imayoshi?"

A scoff. "Hardly. Unlike some people I won't name, I'm aware that one does not simply walk up to important people and ask them if they employ men with ties to organised crime to obtain illicit pornography."

"I'm not sure he's actually tied to any organised crime gangs," Aomine said. "A Vice cop I know told me that a real arranger wouldn't go around telling people."

"Important people, maybe not. Is this mark of yours important? Did you say she was your coworker?"

"I didn't say who the person was, but nice try. Anyway, it's a man, not a woman. And nobody important, not in the way you mean."

More key-clacking. "That'll be useful to know. If it's nobody important, the arranger would've been relaxed. Vice cops think everyone's a bad guy, even innocent-looking victims. Part of the job, from what I'm hearing. I'll be in touch."

Aomine nodded, even though he knew Imayoshi couldn't see him. "Good man."

"It'll be nice to have you owe me another little favour."

"Yeah, yeah," Aomine said, rolling his eyes. Imayoshi never asked for something simple, like food or a blowjob. Well, he _had_ opened his big mouth and offered his help to Matsuoka, so now he'd have to work for it. Besides, it was kind of getting interesting.

"By the way, how's Kagami doing these days? Heard he made rank at the station."

"He did, yeah. Aside from that, I wouldn't know."

"Sounds dramatic."

"Sounds like none of your business."

"Is this where you tell me to get bent or shall we trade a few more pleasantries?"

"Get bent," Aomine said, laughing, then hung up. His smile vanished instantly, though.

_How many people still think we're together?_ He'd lived with the empty space beside him for two years, yet all over the country, and even overseas, there were people neither he nor Kagami kept in regular contact with, people who thought of them as a couple. How many would never get back in touch and go to their graves thinking that Aomine and Kagami had lived happily ever after? _Why do I care?_

Aomine forced the thoughts away and turned to Matsuoka. "It'll take some time, but this guy's scary resourceful."

Matsuoka nodded. "I wasn't expecting you to give me a name after just one call, senpai. What can I do in the meantime, besides look for other victims through the reports database?"

"Speaking of that, say we do find another victim and they don't want to get involved? We're talking about a possible scandal here, after all. Then what?"

"I dunno," Matsuoka admitted. "I'm hoping it'll work out somehow."

A thought occurred to Aomine. "Have you looked online to make sure these photos aren't out there, by the way?"

Matsuoka paled. "You think he'd do that? Even though they're uncensored?"

"Censoring is done in post-production," Aomine pointed out. "If it's money he's after, he could sell his footage more than once. He could sell it in different formats to different companies."

After a brief pause, Matsuoka looked up, his expression still alarmed but a bit eager. "Do you remember when Abarai-san was here?"

"Do I ever," Aomine said with a little twist of regret in his gut. Taken or not, Aomine's continued stupid fixation on Kagami or not, Renji was really attractive. "What about him?"

"Didn't he say there was a database Vice used to verify if footage is legal or not?"

"Yeah…"

"So couldn't we just gain access to that database? Use a keyword search for _firefighter_ , or something?"

"And look for what? If it's illegal, it won't be in the database. If it's being sold as legal, there's not much you can do to pull it from circulation unless Tachibana files a report that he didn't consent to participate. Then there'll be an investigation -- and if we're lucky, stores will have to pull any related merchandise. And even then, if people bought it as a video or photobook, there's nothing we can do to make them give it back."

Matsuoka looked so dejected that Aomine couldn't help feeling sorry for him. "All you can hope for is that this false Takigawa's client is just some eccentric rich lecher who wanted some nudes for his very own. If those photos are out there, you'll have to look for them yourself. My advice, though? Don't. Sometimes ignorance is bliss."

"But what if they're out there, and someone who knows Makoto happens across them? His life could be ruined. If I can find out who put them up before that happens..." Matsuoka trailed off, grimacing. 

"In any case, hang on to that report," Aomine advised. "It's dated, and I'll stamp it. Worse comes to worst, it will be proof he tried to report it as a crime, but us incompetent hick town cops forgot to log it with Vice like we should have." He pointed to the prefectural map on his screen. "We'd get a slap on the wrist since the crime didn't happen in our jurisdiction and so technically isn't really our responsibility, and he'd get an investigation launched. It might not save his reputation and it would definitely put him in a courtroom at some point, but it should be enough to save his career. Being a ranked firefighter is a pretty big deal, you know. They don't just get fired without a serious inquiry."

Matsuoka exhaled slowly, staring at the report. After a long period of silence, he handed it to Aomine. "Thanks, senpai."

"Don't worry, I'll make you pay for it. I'm thinking ten teriyaki burgers."

[tbc]


	16. Chapter 16

The weather report had called for overcast skies and a light drizzle, in anticipation of the rainy season. But the sea winds had been kind, and the clouds had scattered before the rain could fall. Makoto took it as a good sign: today was his day off, and he and Rin were going to have lunch at that new beach-themed bistro with the patio hanging right over the sea. It would have been less nice to have to sit inside and look at the rain lash the patio furniture, interesting food or no interesting food.

At the thought of food, his stomach gave another pang, and he glanced at his watch. Still another hour until Rin arrived, so he might as well get something small to tide him over. Makoto headed for the nearby convenience store, where he wavered between the sandwiches, rice balls, and salads for a good ten minutes before picking up a small green salad in a see-through plastic container. If he ate too much now, he would eat less at lunch, and that might make Rin worry. 

Ever since Rin found out about Kurayoshi, he'd been fussing over Makoto in a very Rin-like way: by scolding him for not eating or sleeping enough and for not getting enough exercise outside of work. Makoto didn't argue with him or complain about it: he was happy Rin hadn't decided that someone like Makoto was too much trouble after all.

He took his salad to a set of large stone steps leading down to the western beach. The early summer sun had warmed the stone slabs to body temperature, so they'd make a lovely place to sit. He didn't feel like walking all the way down to the beach to find a real bench. He sat down, balancing the tiny salad container on his thighs, and started to eat using the plastic fork the sales clerk had given him.

A large signboard a little further down the steps showed a cartoon of a person eating an ice cream and a bird circling above. _Please Watch Out for Hungry Birds,_ it warned. Below, in smaller type, it cautioned that swooping birds could cause injury and admonished people not to feed the birds on purpose, either. A seagull hopped up to the bench, its little webbed feet barely an inch from Makoto's shoes. Makoto had always been a little afraid of seagulls. Something about that slight curve in their yellow beaks brought to mind disapproving elderly schoolteachers. Makoto offered the gull the last piece of lettuce, and it trotted off with it hanging from its beak.

His hunger slightly appeased, Makoto gazed out to sea. Towards the horizon, the clouds still held sway -- the reprieve from the rain wouldn't last longer than a couple of hours. And once the rains came, it would mean the rainy season and yet another month closer to Rin's qualifier. Already they were only seeing each other only a couple of times a week: Rin worked for forty-five hours and trained for another twenty-five. So every time they were together, Makoto tried to remember every detail, for later.

_Rin starts to push Makoto's underpants down, and Makoto pulls them back up hastily, shaking his head, unable to say a word because even though he knows Rin's safe, he_ can't.

_Rin hangs his head. "I'm sorry," he murmurs. "I got carried away."_

_Makoto pulls him closer. "It's okay."_

_"No, it isn't. I--"_

_"Let's not talk about it," Makoto says firmly. The edge of panic is still there, but so's his erection, and he'd rather deal with the latter. He pulls Rin's hand back to it._

_"What if I used my mouth," Rin suggests._

_Makoto smiles, because it's so_ Rin _to try to make up for something by going the extra mile, but shakes his head. "No, I like this. I like your hands, Rin."_

_Rin blushes. "Nothing special about my hands."_

_Makoto leans up to kiss him. His eyes fall shut as Rin continues stroking him, and the dreaded flashbacks never happen -- Rin is all there is to his world for the next little while. Rin's soft, wet mouth, Rin's hair tickling Makoto's face, Rin's grasp on Makoto's cock a little unsure but strong--_

"Makoto?"

"Wah!" Makoto's legs jerked and sent the empty salad container flying.

Rin caught it in mid-air and went to deposit it in the trash can at the top of the stairs.

"You're early," Makoto said, smiling, when Rin returned.

Rin sat down next to him. "I was on my way to meet you by the clock tower when I saw you spacing out all by yourself."

"I wasn't spacing out," Makoto said. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching, and leaned in to lay a quick kiss on the side of Rin's neck. "I was thinking about last weekend."

Rin put an arm around Makoto's shoulders. "I wish we had time to go back to your place," he said into Makoto's ear.

Makoto's face burned. He had been so caught up in his memories that here he was, all but propositioning poor Rin out of the blue. "I wish we'd never left my place," he whispered, all the same.

Rin pulled him to his feet and dragged him downstairs towards the beach, behind the bird warning signboard -- into a corner between it and the rampart wall. Now only the seagulls could see them. Rin's breath was minty, like he'd just brushed his teeth, and Makoto hoped there weren't any bits of lettuce stuck in _his_ teeth. Kissing Rin always made him lose his head, but kissing Rin unexpectedly like this was even better. He held Rin close and wished he didn't need to breathe. 

Rin's stomach growled so loudly Makoto thought he felt it reverberate even through their clothes.

"Oh no," Makoto said, releasing him and easing away. "Let's go eat?"

Rin blushed. "Sorry."

"No, it's my fault," Makoto said, so embarrassed that even the tips of his ears were on fire. "I was just--" He faltered and shifted his gaze to his feet. Looking at Rin's face just made him want to kiss Rin again despite his very best intentions.

"I'm the one who dragged you into the bushes here."

"Bushes?" Makoto looked around, confused. He couldn't see any bushes.

Rin sniffed. "It's just a saying. Come on." He took Makoto's hand, and they made their way to the bistro, a little further along the rampart. By the time it took them to reach it -- five minutes -- Makoto's heart was no longer trying to leap out of his chest, and Rin's face was only a slight pink.

Their reserved table was at the farthest end of the patio, where it felt like they were aboard an enormous ship with nothing but the sea below and ahead. A sturdy wooden railing all along the edges of the patio and the thin metal mesh netting canopy strung in a slope from the roof of the bistro were all that separated them from the water.

"The owner must've paid someone serious money to get a permit for this," Rin said, inspecting the netting. "Can't cut this with a knife, but you could probably put a rip in it with a handheld blowtorch."

A woman somewhere behind them coughed.

"Well, he has a point," a male voice said. "A blowtorch would make short work of that mesh. _I_ could--"

"Blowtorches are not allowed!" the woman interrupted. "Who walks around with a blowtorch, anyway? And keep your _voice_ down, Natsu! They'll hear us!"

Makoto and Rin exchanged glances and nodded at each other in silent agreement not to turn around and make things even more awkward.

A young blonde woman with foreign features came up to their table, armed with a little notepad. "My name is Lucy and I'm the owner. Welcome, um, officer--?"

"I'm just here to eat," Rin said with a little salute. "Not official business."

She looked tremendously relieved. "Ah, well, in that case, what would you like to drink? I'll get those started and your waiter will be right with you."

Rin and Makoto both ordered iced tea -- Rin's without sugar, Makoto's mango-flavoured. As Lucy walked off into the main building, Makoto turned to see who she'd been talking to, but he must have left in the meantime: the patio was empty. For the time being, anyway -- lunch hour was just about to begin.

"The food looks like it's pretty standard, actually," Rin said, studying the menu. "It's the way it's presented that's fancy."

Haru, who'd recommended this place to begin with, had mentioned that the portions were on the small side, so they ordered a bunch of things. For Makoto, whiting fillets cut into star shapes, garnished with green-dyed noodles and seaweed, plus a plateful of miniature cheese rings decorated with thin red wax to look like lifebuoys. For Rin, deviled-egg boats with triangular sails made out of pressed seaweed, and a burger that looked like the world's fattest taiyaki: both bun and patty were cut into the shape of a fish. They got a potato salad to share -- it came in a miniature sand pail, and the serving spoon resembled a shovel.

While they waited for the food, the bistro filled right up with customers, and as they ate, other fancy dishes made their way to the other tables -- a tempura dish fashioned into an octopus by placing an onion in the centre and eight shrimp around it, then a watermelon carved to look like a shark's maw, the inside full of diced fruit.

"The tourists are going to love this place," Makoto said. "Haru was right."

Rin nodded. ""Speaking of Haru, what was today's ridiculous food idea?"

"Oh, he made something called mackerel pot pie, but I only had a little bit because I didn't want to ruin my appetite," Makoto said.

"You should have eaten it. You skip meals too often."

Makoto gestured at his plate, still half-full. "How big do you think my stomach is?"

Rin got up and leaned over the table a little, as if to look at Makoto's stomach, but his eyes were elsewhere.

Makoto flushed. "Where are you looking?"

Rin made an innocent face and sat back down. "Who, me?"

Makoto looked away to the sea, chewing a whiting star thoughtfully. The wind was picking up again, making the waves foam and dance.

"Are you allowed to take a day off during the week?" he asked, swallowing.

"If I switch with one of the weekend guys, sure. Why?"

"I want to spend some time by the ocean together. Somewhere less touristy. If it's a weekday, we could even find a beach all to ourselves." Makoto had always wanted to spend a day like that with Rin in Iwatobi, but they were both a long way from home now.

Rin lit up. "Like a road trip? We could rent a car in the city."

"Yeah!"

Rin thought for a moment. "Or a motorbike."

"You know how to ride a motorbike?" Makoto asked, impressed.

"It was part of my training at the academy," Rin explained.

"In case you have to commandeer a vehicle to chase after a bad guy?" Makoto guessed.

Rin frowned. "Probably? Most of the time they didn't tell us why we had to do something; we just had to do it."

"But won't we have to postpone it for a while if we want to rent a motorbike? It'll be raining for the next month and a half." Makoto gestured towards the clouds massing on the horizon. "I don't mind walking in the rain, but a motorbike might be too uncomfortable."

Rin nodded. "True. Also, besides a roof, cars have something else motorbikes don't."

"A trunk so we can bring a picnic cooler?" Makoto suggested. He could ask the lieutenant if he could borrow one from the firehouse.

Rin smirked. "Tinted windows."

[tbc]


	17. Chapter 17

Aomine stared at the tiny images on his laptop screen and brought up the search-in-page function to type in _firefighter_. He had no desire to click on the thumbnails -- he wasn't interested in looking at pictures of naked people; he could see them any time he wanted at any nearby bathhouse or hot spring. For a bit of adult entertainment, he'd take a Horikita Mai or Murata Kenji photobook over this stuff any day: hardcore porn was for people with no imagination.

Matsuoka had looked horrified at the idea of his boyfriend on porn sites. So Aomine had decided to do the poor guy a solid and see if Tachibana's photos would turn up. He wasn't going to try and dig any deeper than the open internet, though. The sort of people who hung out on illegal file-sharing servers weren't likely to draw outsider attention to their hobbies. And if those photos were being passed around those kinds of hands, it was better not to know. Since nothing could be done about it one way or another.

First he'd tried searching by name, though it wasn't _likely_ that Tachibana's ex wanted to ruin his reputation. If that had been his goal, he only had to share the pictures with Tachibana's boss back in Kurayoshi. That would've warranted a phone call to Tachibana's new place of employment -- the firehouse here in town. And then, right or wrong, Tachibana would have been asked to resign. The fire department wouldn't have risked a scandal, especially not for a rookie.

Once again, his _firefighter_ search brought up nothing. Aomine closed the laptop. He'd gone through a dozen different sites and found no one even resembling Tachibana, so it was safe to say the footage remained in private ownership. 

Matsuoka was probably relieved to hear it when Aomine told him about it in the morning, but he was too busy hiding under his desk from Haruno. He had apparently answered the office phone and introduced himself as Tachibana, and now Haruno was displaying every sign of never letting him live it down.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Matsuoka-kun," Haruno said in a sing-song voice. "I used to write _Yamanaka Sakura_ in all my notebooks at the academy."

Matsuoka poked his head out from underneath the desk. "Then what happened?

"Oh, Ino wanted to have my family name, so she became a Haruno. I'm kind of glad, since I didn't have to change all my paperwork in the end."

Aomine shook his head and went back to his computer screen. Was that some kind of sign of successful couples? Trying each other's names on in secret? He'd never even thought about sharing a family name with Kagami. They'd never talked about anything even remotely like marriage. The couch in Aomine's apartment was their only piece of joint property. And besides, if they were to share a name, what the hell would they call each other? Aomine didn't think he'd ever even said Kagami's first name out loud on its own.

Anyway, it was pointless to even think about it. Kagami had to become a part of his past. 

He had to.

*

With the rainy season having really gotten going, Aomine spent a lot of his off time at the gym downtown, not far from his workplace. If he was going to try out for the Sand Cats in August, he was going to have to get in better shape. He wasn't seventeen any more and couldn't coast by on quick reflexes alone.

As it happened, Matsuoka worked out there too, and though their routines varied, sometimes they spotted each other on the bench. Sometimes, if Tachibana was on shift, they'd head to a nearby hot spring together after working out. The nearby hotel staff had known Aomine for years and let him use the hot springs even though he wasn't a guest. A couple of times, they went out for drinks with Haruno -- though Matsuoka had a hard limit of three beers a week, and he drank most of them when out with his boyfriend.

"You ever hear from that former teammate of yours?" Matsuoka asked one morning while Haruno had locked herself in the bathroom to get some peace and quiet for her hangover.

"Not yet," Aomine said. "He's looking for one guy in all of Japan with not a lot to go on. It'll take a bit."

He _was_ wondering what was taking Imayoshi so damn long. That guy had always had the devil's own luck in everything else, so why not in this? Still, only two weeks had gone by since they'd first spoken. He could tell Matsuoka wanted something to happen before his important qualifier in August, but there was no way to guarantee it.

Between his day job and his tryout prep, Aomine was going out less -- and drinking less. Even Shura noticed: she stopped coming by with booze and started bringing food instead. Try as Aomine might, he could never beat her in Need for Speed Rivals. Satsuki and Riko came over sometimes, usually to guilt-trip Aomine into babysitting Yachiru while they went out for drinks that came in fancy-shaped glasses with little umbrellas in them.

The listlessness that had gripped him since the day he'd decided to make a clean break was gone, though thinking about Kagami still brought a grey, empty silence into his mind. He still missed Kagami -- he didn't think he would ever not miss him. Well, until he found somebody else. Meeting Renji had made him sure that he would one day find someone who would eclipse Kagami. He just had to look somewhere outside of this town.

One afternoon, he and Matsuoka were on their way back from parking enforcement rounds when Matsuoka asked if they could stop by the firehouse.

"Makoto keeps asking me to come by," Matsuoka explained, slowing for an amber light.

Aomine laughed. "Wants to show you off, does he?"

"It's not like that," Matsuoka muttered. Both his hands were on the wheel: a sure sign he was nervous.

"It's fine," Aomine said. He couldn't avoid the firehouse forever. They had joint disaster training and ran food drives together. Then there was the annual prefectural muster both departments had to pass to reassure citizens their tax dollars weren't going to waste: a lot of the training for that took place in the same facility north of the harbour. The training sessions were slotted out by district, and their town was a district. So they'd be there at the same time. Aomine had to know he wouldn't go to pieces every time he and Kagami crossed paths.

Upon entering the firehouse, they found just about everyone on shift crowded around the game table, betting fake money from some board game on a poker match between Sado and Shimizu Kiyoko, one of the EMTs attached to the firehouse. Aomine spent a good ten minutes returning greetings and explaining that he'd just been too busy with the new rookie to come by.

Kagami wasn't with them. Once everyone's attention switched to Matsuoka, Aomine searched the place and spotted a familiar shock of red hair through the open common room door. Kagami sat next to the kitchen counter, his back to everyone, peeling a small mountain of potatoes. The peels went into a bucket at his feet; the potatoes, into an enormous cast-iron pot on the counter. The way he sat there, with a slight slump in his shoulders, reminded Aomine of the night everything ended. Kagami had sat on the bed with his eyes downcast and his hands lying uselessly in his lap.

Though that night, Kagami's shirt had looked different. Aomine frowned. He knew the shirt Kagami was wearing -- he'd seen it before. He'd taken it off Kagami before, even. Light grey with a Transformers logo in the middle of the back. It hung down from Kagami's shoulders in an unfamiliar way: before, it would have stretched across Kagami's frame, tight enough that it would look in danger of ripping. Kagami hated shopping for everyday clothes, and a lot of the stuff he used to wear around the house -- and during downtime at the firehouse -- was stuff he'd worn in high school, even. It was the same shirt. So the body underneath it must've changed -- shrank, to be exact.

Though he'd just been happy to see everyone, now Aomine wished that they all would just disappear so that he could be alone with Kagami. Out of all the times Aomine could remember, _now_ was a moment he was sure Kagami wouldn't brush him off. That he'd listen, or maybe even respond. He looked so _alone_.

But what the hell was Aomine going to say? _Your shirt looks funny, you losing weight or something?_ Kagami would just think Aomine was trying to get a rise out of him. Aomine didn't _do_ concerned. He had always had a smile for Kagami, even when they'd fought. It was that poem Satsuki loved so much she had it pasted up on her bedroom ceiling when they were kids. _Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone._ It had made a weird sort of sense. Nobody wanted to be around sad people.

Except there was a sad person in front of Aomine right now, and Aomine wanted nothing but to have a seat next to him, lean against his shoulder, and help him peel his goddamn potatoes. 

"Senpai?"

Aomine swallowed and tore his eyes away from Kagami's back. "We should get going," he said, addressing the floor.

"Yeah, that's what I was just saying," Matsuoka said, a bit bewildered.

*

"So what's the deal with you and the lieutenant?" Matsuoka asked.

Aomine set his beer down. "The lieutenant?" From the bar's overhead speakers, a pop singer extolled the virtues of following that dream.

Matsuoka pushed his beer aside and leaned across the table a bit. "Kagami-san, from the firehouse. You keep saying he's your ex."

Aomine sighed. He didn't really want to discuss this with Matsuoka, now or ever. But Matsuoka had been more or less forced to share some really personal details about his boyfriend, and Aomine felt like he had to even the score a little. Nothing makes a person feel more vulnerable than other people knowing their secrets. "Yeah, that's right."

"What did you do?"

Aomine bristled. "Why does everyone always think I'm the one at fault? He cheated on me and then dumped me. I don't know what I did to deserve it."

Matsuoka looked aghast. "Have you asked him?"

"Asked him what?"

"What you did to deserve it."

"I--" Aomine broke off, frowning, and took a long drink instead of answering. _Had_ he ever asked Kagami that? It seemed like a logical question, but Kagami had insisted it was all his fault, that Aomine had done nothing wrong. "Why are you asking me this stuff all of a sudden?"

Matsuoka shrugged. "Whenever he's around, you're always looking at him like he's the only person in the place."

"I see," Aomine muttered and signalled the waiter for another. _Am I really that obvious?_ He must have been. "It's not like I can help it, so give me a break."

On the table, Matsuoka's phone buzzed. He eyed it with a guilty expression, and Aomine told him to go ahead and take the call. It was probably Tachibana, calling from work: he could practically see the hearts in Matsuoka's eyes. _Damn kids have it so easy; I'll see where_ you _are ten years later._ But now that he and Matsuoka were kind of buddies, Aomine felt a lot less bitter over his goddamn storybook romance.

In fact, he was even man enough to admit he wanted one too, and that was why he'd gotten so jealous and angry when Matsuoka and Tachibana started dating. Why the fuck shouldn't he want one? Matsuoka looked like he was floating at least a foot off the ground at all times.

But Aomine still wanted it with _Kagami_ , because apparently everyone who had ever scolded Aomine for anything was right: there was no cure for stupidity.

[tbc]


	18. Chapter 18

After Rin and Aomine left, Makoto went back to the kitchen to continue helping Kagami prep for tonight's dinner. Several members of the day shift -- Kagami included -- had already met Rin when Makoto had brought him to Aomine's farewell party last month, but it kind of bothered Makoto that Kagami hadn't come to say hello. 

Maybe it wasn't very nice of Makoto to be bothered by it. Kagami and Aomine had a difficult past together, and they'd started avoiding each other after that farewell party; that much was obvious to everyone. But he couldn't help feeling slighted: anyone rejecting Rin felt personal. Besides, what if Kagami had some reason not to like Rin? Makoto couldn't see how anyone who met Rin for even five seconds could possibly dislike him. But he was in love with Rin, so maybe his judgement wasn't the clearest.

Still, he didn't like having these ambivalent, vaguely suspicious thoughts about his commanding officer, even though the difference in rank only really mattered when they were on a call.

"Sorry I didn't join you," Kagami offered, as though reading Makoto's mind. "Me and Aomine, we're-- well, we try to stay out of each other's way."

Mortified, Makoto waved both hands in front of his face. "You don't have to explain." There he had been moments ago thinking about how he wanted an explanation. Now that he'd gotten one, he felt like the world's most inconsiderate oaf. He had no right to feel even vaguely like people owed him an explanation. Not to mention that Rin wasn't a trophy for him to show off. Haru had once said that falling in love seemed to turn people into toddlers with no impulse control. Maybe he had a point.

Kagami swished the potato peeler in a steel bowl of water cloudy with starch. "No trouble," he said and resumed peeling.

Makoto picked up the bowl and went to refill it with clear water from the tap. Although he felt reassured that Kagami hadn't meant to snub Rin, he realised the other reason it had been strange not to see Kagami with everyone. Kagami was always in the middle of things lately, as though he were forcing himself to interact with everyone so he didn't have to be alone. Makoto remembered what that was like, back when he'd first moved to Kurayoshi. Part of the reason he'd agreed to be in that awful calendar had been out of a hope that it would show his coworkers he was a real team player. And it had worked: they'd started to invite him out for drinks and ask how his day off was, too. Then not-Yuu had come along.

Sighing, Makoto returned the bowl to the stool next to Kagami and took a seat on the other side, picking his potato peeler back up. Come to think of it, Kagami hadn't taken a day off in weeks. Makoto couldn't remember the last time Tatsumi was on shift as team lead. They weren't paid for working extra days, so was Kagami just coming into work every day because he had nothing else? He remembered the rumour that Kagami had temporarily handed the basketball team's captainship to Sado, but secretly. It was more or less an official position, since the team received funding from the Civil Service Association, so they'd have to go through channels to switch captains. Maybe that wasn't a rumour after all? Kagami couldn't very well be in two places at once, and their workday shifts were twenty-four hours. Even on the weekends during the shorter, mostly volunteer-staffed shifts, Kagami always turned up.

During the days that followed, Makoto's suspicions were confirmed: Kagami _was_ at the firehouse all the time. One of the beds in the sleeping quarters became _Kagami's bed_ , the cabinet next to it stored Kagami's clothes, and he kept a sack of laundry and a shower kit in one of the empty supply closets near the showers. When he wasn't on a call, sleeping, or fixing everyone's food, Kagami was doing what Makoto used to when he was new, before Rin had given him a reason to look forward to his days off: finding and doing busywork, like reorganising the personnel file cabinet and touching up cracks in the ceiling plaster.

It troubled Makoto, but it was not his place to approach Kagami with such concerns. Nor was it his place to go over Kagami's head. He might have sought Tatsumi's advice, but if any aspect of Kagami's behaviour bothered her, she didn't show it. And Kagami _seemed_ just fine: quietly focussed when working on something, reluctantly gregarious when everyone got together for a break. He kept trying to play chess against the EMT ladies, even though he lost every time. Nothing at all seemed to be the matter. He did usually have a sad, almost haunted, look in his eyes, but Makoto had never seen him have any other kind of look.

*

"I'm starting to get a bit worried about our lieutenant," Makoto said to Rin as they made their way down a long flight of wooden steps towards the sandy beach. The cooler he carried bumped against his leg with every step.

"Kagami?"

Makoto nodded. "I think he's working too much." 

"Maybe he's picking up someone else's slack," Rin suggested, yanking the cooler from Makoto's hand. "Lemme carry that the rest of the way. You've already got the tent."

"Nobody's slacking," Makoto said. "And he wasn't always like this. I feel like it started right after that party back in April, when Aomine-san left the Civil Servants' Association basketball team."

Rin made a face. "Serves Kagami right, then."

Makoto frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Rin said. Then he sighed. "Aomine told me why they broke up: Kagami cheated on him."

Makoto was so surprised he missed a step and had to take a moment to regain his balance. "Really?" Kagami didn't seem like the type of person who would callously cheat on his partner. Then again, not-Yuu had seemed like a wonderful person, too. Maybe Makoto just wasn't a good judge of character. "That explains why Kagami doesn't think he deserves Aomine-san."

Rin did a double take. "He said that to you?"

Makoto scratched his nose, embarrassed. "Well, no. I accidentally overheard him talking to a friend one night."

In the meantime, they had reached the beach. The sea was calm and the sky overhead was grey, but at least no one expected rain today. It was lucky that Rin ended up getting today off -- starting tomorrow, the forecast called for significant rainfall all the way to the end of the month.

Rin put the cooler down on the damp sand. "I almost said grown-ups are weird, but we're kind of grown-ups, aren't we?"

Makoto threw the backpack with the tent down by the cooler and stretched. "Are we?"

Rin quirked an eyebrow. "We'd better be. I keep thinking about doing really grown-up things with you."

Makoto blushed. "Let's at least have lunch first."

Anezaki-san, the other EMT from the firehouse, had recommended this sliver of beach an hour west of the town. People only ever came here to surf, but rarely during the rainy season. They had the whole place to themselves for now. They set up the tent -- Makoto had thought they'd brought in case it rained, but it became fairly obvious halfway through setting it up that Rin had other uses in mind for it. Not that Makoto had anything against that.

For lunch, they'd bought a sandwich platter from Haru's shop. The owner had recently decided it made more business sense to start offering light lunch fare on a regular basis rather than take the risk that his star decorator would be lured away to some restaurant with grown-up food. Murasakibara called everything except snacks and sweets grown-up food as though he himself weren't at least Kagami's age -- in short, he was a little bit eccentric. Maybe that was why he and Haru got along so well. When they weren't arguing about adding mackerel to dessert.

It had been a week since they'd been together last, so they caught up as they ate, sitting next to each other on a bright blue picnic tarp and gazing out to sea. Far away, a ship made a slow journey towards the horizon. After lunch, they rolled up their pant legs and walked barefoot along the shoreline until they came upon a recently used campsite. The embers in the firepit were still a little warm when Makoto hovered his palm over them.

"I wonder how long ago the people left," he wondered out loud.

Rin squatted next to him and held out his hand as well. "Early in the morning -- here for some fishing, probably."

"Impressive detective work," Makoto teased.

Rin rolled his eyes. "It's just common sense." He pointed to the land bank extending over the water a little ways off. A crudely drawn sign over a locked wooden shack advertised fishing tackle.

Makoto touched one of the bricks ringing the pit. "Remember elementary school?"

"For the team," Rin said with a small smile. "Want to write on these? The coals might work."

Makoto grinned and picked up a discarded kindling stick. _Rin_ , he scratched into the sand next to the firepit. His English letters were embarrassingly clumsy, so he scribbled Rin's name in katakana underneath. Rin found another stick and doodled the characters for Makoto's name on the other side of the pit.

"If the fishers come back tomorrow, they'll wonder who was here," Makoto said. He felt an odd sense of satisfaction at the thought of some stranger knowing they were here, together: Rin and Makoto.

"The rain will wash everything away before then," Rin said, taking Makoto's hand. "Come on, let's head back."

They arrived by the tent just in time to witness a squirrel absconding with a leftover cheese sandwich, still wrapped in plastic. Makoto stared after it with concern. "I hope it can get the sandwich out," he said as the squirrel scrambled up the slope towards the grove near the parking area.

Rin took Makoto's other hand and tugged, making Makoto turn to face him. Rin leaned up for a kiss, but Makoto pulled back.

"Someone will see us--"

"No one's around," Rin whispered, his breath warm on Makoto's cheek, and Makoto gave in. 

There were many ways to be happy, but this way was his favourite. Once, a lifetime ago, he'd thought that nothing could ever be better than kissing Rin at the back of a mostly empty movie theatre. But here, in the place where the low tide would roll in a couple of hours later, wet sand between their toes and their arms tight around each other -- kissing Rin here also felt like nothing could ever compare. Makoto wondered how many places they could go -- how many kisses it would take -- before he felt differently. He didn't want to find out.

A light drizzle started, driving them into the tent. It was a sleeper tent, so there wasn't much to do except get horizontal. Makoto put his arms around Rin and then they both dozed off. They hadn't gotten to sleep together since that time Makoto had told Rin everything about Kurayoshi. One of Makoto's first thoughts when he woke up some thirty minutes later was that he should try not to make this a habit, or he'd never be able to fall asleep without Rin there. Sleeping next to Rin felt like the most self-evident and necessary thing in the world.

"Do you like flowers?" Rin asked when Makoto opened his eyes and blinked away sleep.

"Flowers?"

"Yeah."

"I do," Makoto said. "The ones that grow, I mean. I don't think it's nice to cut them."

"That's what I thought," Rin said. 

"Why do you ask?"

"I saw a flower in a pot for sale outside the garden centre that-- n-no, never mind."

Makoto nudged Rin with his elbow. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, tell me."

Rin sniffed. "You're just going to tease me."

Makoto moved in to kiss his cheek. "I swear I won't."

"There's this… shape in your eyes. Around your pupils? That flower looked just like it, so I wanted to get it for you. But I didn't know if you'd want it."

Makoto's cheeks tingled with a delighted flush. "I have such a thing in my eyes? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, stupid. When was the last time you looked into your own eyes?"

It was a fair point, so Makoto fell silent, playing with Rin's fingers on top of the sleeping bag they were using as a cushion. 

"Sounds like the rain's moved off for now," Rin said. "Maybe I'll go for a swim. Do you want to come? We won't go far."

Makoto gasped. "That's what I forgot!" He'd _known_ that he'd forgotten _something_ as he'd hurried downstairs to the rental car. "My swimming trunks."

"So we can go na-- nuh-- n-next time," Rin stammered, blinking rapidly with each syllable.

Makoto's heart began to beat faster. It was obvious Rin was going to say _naked_ but he hadn't. Even though it wouldn't have bothered Makoto, not that much; as long as he stayed mostly underwater, he wouldn't _feel_ naked. But it was sweet of Rin to think that far. Between the flower thing and this, Makoto felt like his feelings for Rin were going to just explode out of him if he wasn't careful.

"I put in enough for a full day of parking. We can stay as long as we like."

"Let's stay forever," Makoto whispered.

"In that case, we'll have to go back to the car and pay for more parking at some point," Rin whispered back.

Makoto met his eyes. "I love you," he said. 

_So much for being careful._

*

"Did he say it back?" Haru demanded after Makoto finished telling him the short version of his and Rin's day trip to the beach.

"N-no," Makoto said. Rin had turned crimson and hugged Makoto close for a long time, and then they ended up doing some very grown-up things he would never tell Haru about. Then they'd gone outside to watch the tide come in.

Haru stripped off the plastic gloves he was using to work the dough on the table and fished his phone out of his pants pocket. "I'll call him right now and tell him to say it back."

"Haru, no!" Makoto was so panicked that his voice came out a squeak.

Haru lowered the phone. "Why not? Don't you want him to say it?"

"Of course I want him to say it, but only if he feels the same, and definitely not because you bullied him into it!"

"Hmph." Haru tucked his phone away and put on a new pair of gloves. "He'd better say it back before he goes off to become a world champion, then."

[tbc]


	19. Chapter 19

For all that Aomine avoided running into Kagami, he could never avoid hearing about him. Living in a small town meant that everyone was in each other's business at least some of the time. 

When he heard that Kagami had stopped going to basketball club practice and that Ishidou was more or less running the team, Aomine couldn't help worrying. If Kagami wasn't even playing basketball, that meant things were really bad. The only other time he remembered Kagami doing that had been when his old man had realised he was never going back to college and went several kinds of nuclear. Kagami had shut everyone out, except for Aomine.

_"Can you take care of the team for a while? I feel like I'm just dragging everyone down so I don't really wanna see them right now."_

_Aomine turns to lie on his side so he can look at Kagami. Lately he's been thinking that he never hates what he sees when he does that. "You're still gonna see me though, right?"_

_It's obvious Kagami is trying really hard not to smile. "Yeah."_

_"What makes me special?"_

_"I know where I stand with you," Kagami says. "You'd drop me in a minute if you felt like I was a burden."_

It made Aomine wince to remember that. Sure, Kagami hadn't been wrong, generally speaking. Aomine didn't have time for people making nuisances of themselves in his life, but that didn't go for the people he cared about. Satsuki was a royal fucking pain in the ass more often than not, but she was important to him. Kagami had been, too. Hadn't he ever figured that out?

Back when Aomine had gotten over his anger at Kagami's betrayal and realised he still wanted Kagami around, he would sometimes drink his nightly beer right in the hallway outside the apartment, leaning on the railing, watching the people below come and go, and occasionally checking for a light in Kagami's window. Just seeing that light, knowing Kagami was home, used to bring him a certain kind of peace.

Then he'd stopped going out into the hallway. Switched to stronger drinks, too. Would have drowned in them eventually if it hadn't been for Satsuki. Maybe Kagami was doing the same -- though if he _was_ self-medicating with alcohol, it wasn't anywhere in town. Not that Aomine was checking. He simply happened to have visited all six of the town's watering holes this week. Variety was important.

Aomine stared out across the way, past the playground. It was warm enough again to drink out here, but he was done drinking. Dusk had fallen long ago, yet Kagami's window remained dark. Just like yesterday and the day before. Aomine had stopped coming out here to stare at the light in those windows because peaceful or not, it had also made him feel lonely to be so far out of Kagami's reach. But there was a different kind of loneliness in waiting for a light that never came on.

_What if he's left town?_

Aomine clicked his tongue and went back inside his apartment. Now he was just making shit up. Granted, if Kagami just disappeared, it would make it a hell of a lot easier for Aomine to get over him. But where would Kagami go? His whole life was here now.

_Where could he go?_

*

Aomine's desk phone rang first thing Monday morning, nearly startling him into dropping his coffee on the cat in his lap. He set the mug down carefully and picked up the phone on the third ring.

"This is Aomine."

"It'd be troublesome if you weren't; I even went to the trouble of finding out what your direct line was," Imayoshi said, that forked-tongue smile of his obvious even in his voice.

Aomine cast a sidelong glance at Matsuoka, who sat flipping through the morning briefs with bleary-eyed torpor. Haruno was running late. "Why go to the trouble?" he asked, keeping his voice low. No need to get Matsuoka all excited if this was just Imayoshi being Imayoshi. "You could've just called my cell."

"No, I want there to be a record of this call," Imayoshi said. "I also sent an e-mail to your work account with several photos for your victim to look at. I'm ninety-eight per cent certain that his mystery man is one of them. I even have a good idea which one."

"Really," Aomine said, impressed despite himself. He went to open his mailbox.

"Don't look at them," Imayoshi said quickly, even though there was no goddamn way he could have heard Aomine move his arm to grab the mouse. "Have your victim see them first. You've got one, right? A victim."

Aomine ignored the question. "Why should I do that?"

"Because you know one of them."

Aomine blinked. "I do?"

"Yeah. I don't know what your feelings about him are, but if they're not warm and fuzzy, you might inadvertently pressure the witness into identifying him. Police offices are pretty scary for most civilians, Aomine-kun."

"This is a small town police box, not some hotshot detective office, wiseass," Aomine said. "We deal with grandmas."

"All the same."

"Fine. I'll call you once I have news," Aomine said. But Imayoshi had already hung up.

"That sounded like some kind of progress," Matsuoka said.

Aomine picked his coffee back up and slurped it noisily. Yoruichi leaped off his knees and stalked off towards the cat flap. "Maybe," he said. "Can you call Tachibana to come in for five minutes? We're going to have him look at some pictures."

Matsuoka rose from his chair. "Have you seen them?"

"We'll have him look first," Aomine said. If he wasn't allowed to look at the pictures, like hell he was going to let Matsuoka peek at them. Besides, maybe Matsuoka knew one of them too. Anything was possible. 

On a deep, gut level, Aomine was sure Imayoshi knew what he was talking about. He'd even placed this call to the police box and sent the photos to Aomine's work account -- if this ended up becoming an actual investigation, they'd need to prove that the initial identification had followed protocol. Of course, Imayoshi didn't know that Aomine and Matsuoka intended to find other victims rather than use the one they already had. But he didn't _need_ to know that. Not unless Aomine needed his help again.

"So?" he asked Matsuoka, who was still casting hopeful glances at Aomine's computer screen. "You calling him or what?"

"I'll call him," Matsuoka mumbled. "It's his day off though. I hope I don't wake him up."

Aomine threw an eraser at him. "There's never going to be a good time for this."

Matsuoka caught the eraser mid-flight and put it on his desk. "Fine." He took out his cell phone and went outside while Aomine finished his coffee.

"He'll be here in ten minutes," Matsuoka said, returning. "He's actually just at the bakery."

"Good," Aomine said. "Maybe I'll take a little nap since I can't use my computer until he shows up."

"Why can't we see them first?" Matsuoka asked.

"Because I know one of them, apparently," Aomine said.

Matsuoka's eyebrows shot up. "Someone from _here_ could be our guy?"

Aomine glowered. "I didn't spend my whole life here, you know."

"Guess what _I_ picked up at the convenience store yesterday?" Haruno announced, walking in with a gigantic paper cup of coffee from that fancy place that had just opened in one of the hotels. Though maybe it wasn't really coffee but one of those unpronounceable Italian things. Something-esso or other-chino.

"You're late," Aomine said.

Haruno traipsed towards her desk, a protective hand on her purse. "Go on, _guess_."

"A guidebook on one hundred and one exciting new ways to annoy your coworkers first thing in the morning?" Aomine suggested.

"You're awfully rude," Haruno said in the voice of a woman with several decks' worth of aces up her sleeve. Why was she giving Aomine these triumphant looks? "Matsuoka-kun, let me tell you all about last night."

Aomine sighed and went to make himself more coffee. Matsuoka was way too smart not to see whose side he should be on in this situation. And that side was not the tall, dark, and handsome one.

"I woke up in the middle of the night from this _horrible_ nightmare."

"What was the nightmare?" Matsuoka asked.

Haruno sat down. "That I married this absolute _nerd_ \-- I'm talking misunderstood goth here, okay? -- from my high school and that we had a child, whom we named Salad."

"Salad?" Matsuoka repeated.

"Salad. I don't know -- that's why it was a nightmare, see? Anyway, I wanted to tell Ino, but she was fast asleep, so I went to the twenty-four-hour convenience store to get some ice cream instead."

"You took the cruiser, didn't you?" Aomine put in.

Haruno shushed him with a look so haughty it left no doubt that she had in fact taken a service vehicle on her midnight ice cream run.

"So you brought ice cream?" Matsuoka asked, nodding at Haruno's purse, which she had placed on top of her desk and was still holding closed with both hands. "Won't it melt in there?"

"Oh, no, this is _better_ than ice cream," Haruno said. Then she gave Aomine a look that was positively unsettling. "The store clerk was bored with nothing to do, so she was cleaning out the storeroom, which had years and years worth of old magazines, crates of expired beverages, and the like. And I happened to find the most interesting little magazine. Sakaki-san even gave it to me as a free bonus with my purchase."

Aomine was beginning to get a really bad feeling. Convenience stores weren't exactly known for carrying high literature on their shelves. What if Tachibana's photos had ended up in a porn mag of some kind? Aomine hadn't even thought of those -- it seemed too unlikely. Someone at either the Kurayoshi firehouse or here had to be into that shit. Someone would've seen them earlier.

Haruno probably assumed that if Tachibana was in dirty magazines, Matsuoka must know all about it, since it was obvious those two told each other literally everything. He wondered what he could do to alert her that this was a terrible idea without tipping Matsuoka off, but nothing came to mind. Besides, it made no sense that she was all but winking at _Aomine_.

_Wait, could this be about Kagami…?_

Haruno opened her purse and extracted a tatty copy of… _Basketball Monthly_.

" _That's_ better than ice cream?" Aomine exclaimed. "I have like five stacks of them at home. I'll bring them next time. Now give me all your ice cream."

"Matsuoka-kun, why don't you come and read this interview with the erstwhile Aomine-kun," Haruno suggested in a sing-song voice.

"You don't have to call me names," Aomine protested. _What's_ erstwhile _supposed to mean?_ But Matsuoka had already hurried to Haruno's side, and the two of them bent close over the magazine, which had a hot pink sticky note attached to one of the inner pages.

Curious despite himself, Aomine walked over to see. It had to be one from his college days -- he'd given a few interviews back then. He didn't remember any interviews in high school, though the magazine people were always around in some way or another.

But it _was_ a magazine from high school -- there he was in on a court somewhere in his Touou uniform, wiping sweat off his face with his forearm. "I see no interview," he muttered.

"Aomine Daiki," Haruno declaimed in a mournful tone. "Position: Power forward. Zodiac sign: Virgo. Motto: I'm me."

Matsuoka snickered. "Really, senpai?"

The door opened, and Tachibana stuck his head in. "May I come in?"

"We're just looking at senpai's high school basketball photos," Matsuoka said, beckoning him over. Tachibana edged inside, looking far more timid than a guy his size had any right to. Maybe Imayoshi had a point about police offices and civilians. Though Tachibana was a firefighter. Did that make him a non-civilian?

"So this was your team?" Matsuoka asked as Haruno flipped the page to Wakamatsu's and Sakurai's profiles. Damn, Aomine hadn't heard from those guys in a long time.

"Yeah," he said. Touou was black and red, Inter-High and Winter Cup, Imayoshi's head games and Sakurai's homemade bentos, Tetsu showing him what he lacked, and, of course, his rivalry against Kagami. Always, everything came back to Kagami. If Aomine could leap into the pages of that magazine, shake his past self and tell him never to get involved with Kagami Taiga--

Haruno turned the page again. "I think there was more about Aomine-kun here--"

Tachibana sucked his breath in sharply, and Matsuoka turned to him with concern. "Makoto--?"

Tachibana's face had gone pale. "That's him," he said, pointing. "That's Yuu."

"Yuu?" Haruno said, tapping a violet fingernail underneath the photo. "It says his name is Hanamiya Makoto-kun."

*

"Hanamiya," Aomine said into his cellphone. "Without a doubt." One of the photos Imayoshi had sent him had been of Hanamiya too, looking older and a bit worse for the wear than he had in high school, but unmistakable.

Imayoshi gave a humourless little chuckle. "Ah. In that case, I'l help you even if you don't pay back this little favour. He did something rather… nasty to a respected colleague a few years back."

"Nasty as in homemade sex tape nasty?" Aomine made a mental note to try and find out who this colleague might have been.

"A little nastier than that. Pity he only got away with that nose deformity. But speaking of sex tapes. Is it of your new man?"

"Nice try, Imayoshi."

"I liked you better when you were clueless."

"We've all got to grow up one day."

He hung up the phone and made his way back to the police box. A few steps away from the door, he bumped into Tachibana, who was just leaving. Good, he'd gotten himself back under control. For a bit there, Aomine had been sure he would break down and they'd have to explain things to Haruno. Matsuoka didn't want her involved because he wanted as few people as possible to know about Tachibana's role in all this.

Aomine motioned for him to wait. "Can I ask you something real quick?"

Tachibana cringed a little. "Is it about-- um-- my problem? I'd rather not -- not now."

"No, no," Aomine said. "It's about Kagami. A… mutual friend said he hasn't been coming home lately."

"I-- He hasn't really left the firehouse in weeks."

"And Kotonami is okay with that?"

"He only clocks in on his scheduled days," Tachibana said. "The chief says that he's free to spend his days off however he likes, as long as he isn't going out on calls or drilling or attending meetings."

"So you guys talked to her about it?"

"Sado-san did." Tachibana chewed his bottom lip for a moment. "Several of us are becoming a little worried about the lieutenant, but he doesn't really listen when we try to talk to him."

The hopeful look Tachibana was giving him made Aomine furious. Not at Tachibana, or at Kagami, or even at himself. It was an empty, unfocussed anger that could do nothing except boil high in his chest, making it hard to breathe. 

He wanted nothing more than to find out what the hell was going on with Kagami, but it was pointless. Even if by some miracle he convinced Kagami to talk to him, he still couldn't do anything. They were finished. Though he didn't want to move on, he needed to. And that would never happen if he went running every time he heard a rumour that Kagami stubbed a toe.

"He can take care of himself," Aomine said through his teeth. "I'm not his anything."

[tbc]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that I've got my Yuletide fic to write, and so I have to put this story on hold until I finish that up, as I want to give all of my attention to that and some other gift fics! The next chapter will go up on or shortly after December 21st. ^^


	20. Chapter 20

"Here." Rin pushed a small bottle of water into Makoto's hand.

"Thanks." Makoto sat up in bed and scooted over a bit more to make extra room for Rin. This bed wasn't really meant for more than one person, but so far the two of them have somehow always found a way to fit. Rin half-lay next to him, his back against the headboard.

Makoto drank about half the bottle, then offered it to Rin. "You want some?"

"You have freckles," Rin said, gazing at Makoto's back.

Makoto blushed. "Don't look at them so closely."

"You don't like them?" Rin asked. He brushed his fingertips across the back of Makoto's shoulder.

"When I was in kindergarten, a boy told me that every time people do something bad, they get a new freckle. It kind of stuck with me even though I know it's not true," Makoto admitted.

"There must be at least fifty of them on your back." Rin kissed the top of his shoulder. "If that boy was telling the truth, I might have to arrest you right now."

Makoto smiled and turned to pull him closer. "Is that so? Handcuffs and everything?"

They kissed quickly, then Rin settled back against the headboard and Makoto stretched out on the pillow. Neither was ready to go again, yet. Rin's passion was quick to kindle and slow to burn, just like Makoto's. If they wanted to be intimate, they never had time to do much else, which kind of precluded the possibility of spontaneity, given their schedules and living arrangements.

"You haven't said anything about the other day," Rin said. "When we found out about that Hanamiya. Are you still upset?"

Makoto shook his head, but he wasn't sure how to answer. He wasn't even sure if what he was thinking would put Rin at ease or make him worry. He hadn't asked Makoto about it directly until now, but it had obviously been on his mind.

"Ever since I found out that he's never been a nice person, it strangely made me feel better," he said finally. "I don't know how to explain it. Maybe I'm naive, but I think most people are basically good. So if I know that a person who did something bad is not so good, it's easier to think of his actions as extreme." He scratched his forehead. "Like an improbability, I guess. Makes it easier to believe it wasn't my fault."

Rin was looking at him with eyes wide, but Makoto couldn't tell what he was thinking. Then Rin started to say something but seemed to think better of it. He slid down to lie next to Makoto, who first took his hand then put his free arm around Rin and rolled closer to him. He didn't want to talk about Hanamiya when they were like this, and he guessed that Rin had had the same thought just now.

This time, when Rin, snug in Makoto's embrace, kissed his neck, Makoto's lower body reacted. He pulled Rin half on top of himself and kissed him, then let Rin lie on top of him in a lazy straddle as he kissed Makoto back. His hands went to Rin's waist and pushed his underwear down enough so he could put his hands on Rin's bottom and feel him getting hard against Makoto's thigh.

He liked to think that they didn't stop at one round because they couldn't get enough of each other. That was certainly true for Makoto, but maybe that was just Makoto's selfish wishful thinking when it came to Rin. Maybe Rin just needed something else to feel completely satisfied.

"We can try going all the way today," Makoto murmured between kisses. "If I put on a shirt, I'll be fine."

"All the way?" Rin asked, pulling back. He put his elbows on either side of Makoto's head to help support his weight. "You mean you've been holding back all this time? Could've fooled me."

Makoto frowned slightly. "No, I mean, you know. When you put it in. I'd have to take off my underwear for that, but if I wear a long shirt-- Rin? What is it?"

Rin's cheeks had turned crimson. "I-- I thought _you'd_ want to top."

"Me? I wouldn't know what to do, I've only ever, um."

"I'm the other way around," Rin confided.

He looked unexpectedly eager, and Makoto remembered a conversation they'd had one of the first times they were together, about the disappointment Rin sometimes felt that although they were each other's first love, they'd had sex with other people first. He'd tried to play it off like it wasn't really a big deal, but it mattered to him. And if it mattered to Rin, then it mattered to Makoto.

"We don't have to," Rin was saying. "It doesn't matter if we never do. I like things the way they are now."

Makoto was sure Rin meant what he said, but he was just as sure that Rin _wanted_ things to change anyway. It was impossible not to see.

"We could at least try it," Makoto said with a smile. "Though I still kind of want you to top." 

"We could both top," Rin suggested. Makoto tried to imagine this but couldn't. His puzzlement must've shown on his face, because Rin gave him a slightly withering look. "Not at the same time," he added dryly. Then he leaned down and laid a kiss on Makoto's mouth, slow and deep. Makoto relaxed his hold on Rin's ass and moved his hands up to Rin's back, only for Rin to flop sideways and pull Makoto on top of himself. "Do me first," Rin said, and it sounded more like an order than a request, but Makoto didn't mind that at all.

Rin hooked one leg over Makoto's backside and held him there while their kisses grew careless and their breaths loud. Makoto stroked Rin's hair and wondered -- really wondered, for the first time -- what it would feel like to sink into him, to get _that_ close. He wasn't completely sure about it, and he still didn't know what he was doing, but he was ready to try for Rin. Not just because Rin wanted it but because Makoto wanted Rin to have this 'first', and he didn't want to make him wait.

He'd bought lube a while ago, more on a whim than out of any real planning, though Rin smirked when Makoto pulled it out of the bedside table drawer. He didn't question Makoto about it. 

"Do you need to poop?" Makoto asked in a loud whisper.

Rin rolled his eyes. "Makoto, please don't sound like my mom before an elementary school swim meet. I'm all good."

"Sorry," Makoto murmured, blushing. "It's just, it can get kind of... messy."

"I know," Rin said, sitting up and moving closer to Makoto. "Don't worry."

Makoto leaned in and kissed the side of Rin's face. "Turn around," he said. The shell of Rin's ear turned a soft, pretty pink, warm against Makoto's tongue.

He hadn't lied earlier -- he had no real experience preparing someone else, but he'd done it to himself often enough that it was familiar, the way Rin squirmed and pushed as Makoto worked one slick finger inside. The way he gradually relaxed, the way his breathing started to match Makoto's movements -- except doing it to Rin made Makoto hotter than he'd ever been. Rin began to push up against him moan softly a few times when Makoto's middle finger reached far enough. Makoto knew exactly how nice that felt, and he tried to push in deeper, but Rin turned around to look at him. "Not this time," he panted. "Just put it in."

Did _not this time_ mean Rin already wanted a next time? Makoto stroked the small of his back with his free hand. "Let me do this for a little longer. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me," Rin said, turning back and hanging his head down. "I want you--"

"Trust me," Makoto whispered and slid two fingers in at the same time. Rin tensed up, breathing heavily, and it took Makoto a good five minutes to get him to relax again. But once he did, Rin started pushing back against his fingers, and although Makoto never thought he'd feel this way, just knowing that Rin wanted his cock turned him on so much he could barely see straight as he fumbled for the condoms on the bedside table.

Although Makoto knew that from behind was best for someone's first time, he wanted to see Rin's face so badly he couldn't even bring himself to try.

"This is too embarrassing," Rin complained when Makoto made him lie back and tried to settle between his spread legs. Makoto kissed him, and his need for Rin must have come across in that kiss, because Rin relaxed his legs and let him come in closer, let him roll Rin's pelvis up to expose him. 

"Hurry," Rin breathed into his mouth when they pulled apart. "Makoto."

With slow focus, Makoto pushed inside him, and this sensation alone would've been enough, even if Rin decided that he couldn't keep going after all. Inside of Rin felt even hotter than when it was just Makoto's fingers, even tighter, and Rin's breath came in tiny gasps that drove Makoto crazy. He didn't wait until he was all in before pulling back; he felt like if he managed to get all of his dick inside Rin, he would never again want to pull it out.

"Are you okay?" he asked Rin before he continued to move. "We can stop if it's--"

"'S fine," Rin gasped. "It feels a lot bigger like this than usual."

"Sorry," Makoto said, pressing a kiss to Rin's forehead as he pushed in again. 

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," Rin murmured next to his ear, and Makoto laughed, though his laugh ended up a gasp as Rin kissed him, all tongue, and lifted his legs higher so Makoto could go deeper.

They knew how to quickly muffle the sounds that escaped them, but tonight Makoto wished they didn't have to worry about the neighbours; he wanted to hear what Rin sounded like, since it was the first time for both of them. 

It felt the same way it always did when they were together like this: like no one should be allowed to feel this good. Like Rin was everything Makoto could ever need -- and whenever Makoto managed to catch Rin's eye, it felt as though there were nowhere Rin would rather be, now or ever. It was different, joining together like this, but the difference was only in the physical configuration. Everything else remained the same: Makoto wanted to be with Rin. Only Rin. He cradled Rin's face in one hand and tried to stroke Rin's cock with the other as they moved together, but he was too focussed on what his hips were doing, and finally Rin curled his own fingers around Makoto's. "Let me."

Once Makoto's full attention turned to moving inside Rin, the pleasure built so quickly that he was coming far more quickly than he'd expected to, given that he'd already come once earlier. His hips seemed to develop a will of their own as his orgasm took over like a quake, and when it was done, he collapsed on top of Rin, unable to speak or move. _That_ was different. That sense of losing all control: Makoto wasn't sure if it thrilled him or terrified him.

"You're heavy," Rin complained.

"I'm so sorry," Makoto whimpered, moving off him. "You didn't even get to finish..."

Rin cocked one eyebrow. "I didn't?" He nodded at the fluid smeared across his stomach.

"When?" Makoto asked, reaching hastily for the tissue box and then mopping Rin's belly with a handful. 

Rin laughed lazily. "Oh, were you too busy to notice? Must've been having a good time."

Makoto smiled back. "I was, thanks for asking." He pulled the condom off and twisted it into the wad of tissues, then tossed everything to the side of the bed.

Rin sat up and picked up the half-empty water bottle from before. "I don't want to go," he said with a sigh. The clock on Makoto's bedside read nine-twenty.

"If we got married, you could move in here," Makoto said before realising _what_ he was saying.

Rin, who was mid-sip, started coughing violently. Makoto took the bottle out of Rin's hands and patted his back until his coughing subsided.

"I-is now the time?" Rin managed to choke out after he got his voice back.

Makoto smiled guiltily, still stroking Rin's back. "No, I'm sorry, I was just thinking out loud about how we could get around your curfew. I'm not trying to force you--"

"No, I mean, we can't afford a wedding right now. And I want a big one that we can invite everyone to."

Makoto's face felt so hot he wanted to pour water over his head, but thankfully none remained in the bottle. So he opted for pulling a bedsheet over his head and curling sideways away from Rin, embarrassed.

Rin didn't try to dig him out: he put a hand on Makoto's side and just let it sit there, warm and solid.

[tbc]


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow is this ever late! Sorry -_- January is not the best month for me writing-wise; certain work-related things that always happen in January tend to stress me the heck out and writing just wasn't working as stress relief this time, plus me and winter just aren't very good friends. ;-; anyway, the next update may not be next week but it definitely will be before next month. :Dv

Matsuoka walked into the police box carrying a see-through container of cannoli from Murasakibara's shop. Aomine could tell by the fancy monogrammed label at one of the side corners. 

"Okay, I just got into work," Matsuoka said into his phone. "I'll talk to you at lunch, then. Yeah. Bye."

Aomine tucked his pen behind his ear and made his way towards the coffee station, before Haruno could get in and commandeer the cannoli. "Going out to lunch with boy wonder?" he asked.

"No, he's on shift," Matsuoka said. "I'll call him."

Aomine picked out two of the fattest cannoli and put them on a saucer. "Making plans for your hot date this weekend?"

"Huh? No, we're going Go-Karting with Haru and two of my dorm mates."

"So what are you going to talk to him about at lunch?" Aomine asked, bewildered. 

Matsuoka pulled his _World's #1 Brother_ mug off the dish rack and fired up the coffee maker. "I dunno, just stuff? How our days are going so far. Normal things. Since we can't be together, the phone is the next best thing."

Aomine shrugged and carried the cannoli back to his desk. He really needed to stop comparing everything every couple in the world did to what he and Kagami used to do. The phone had been for letting each other know where they were, more or less. What was the point of talking on the phone if they were going to see each other later anyway? But now that he thought about it, maybe on the phone, Aomine could have said the things that he'd never found time to say to Kagami's face.

Speaking of phones, Tetsu had left him a voicemail the day before yesterday, and Aomine had yet to call him back. He'd been avoiding it because he felt like now that he'd decided that he would give up on Kagami, he had to tell Tetsu they were over. The two of them had managed to avoid the conversation last year because Tetsu missed his annual visit due to being at an overseas tournament. The year before that, they had agreed to pretend like nothing was wrong. Tetsu would have tried to mediate, and neither of them had wanted for him to get involved. And then, the longer they didn't tell him, the harder it became to speak up. 

In a way, it was their last shared secret. One of them had to let it go.

*

"What's up," Aomine said into his phone and eyed the whiskey glasses on the dish rack. They'd sat there for weeks because he was too lazy to put them away.

"Hello, Aomine-kun. I'm glad you've decided to return my call."

"It's my bad. I kept forgetting to do it," Aomine lied. "And then it would get too late to call."

"You can call me whenever you like," Tetsu said after a pause. "If I'm busy, I put my phone on don't disturb mode. You can leave a message."

"So what's going on with you?" Aomine asked, sitting back more comfortably against the pillows on his bed. "You guys took a real beating this past season. Owners should never have let Uozumi leave."

"We'll talk about basketball later, Aomine-kun. I'd like to confirm some strange news I heard the other day from Imayoshi-san."

"Well, shit," Aomine said. The whiskey glasses beckoned. Good thing he had no whiskey. "I didn't know you were friendly with that guy."

"We happened to run into each other--"

"Like hell you did," Aomine interrupted with resignation. "He found out where you'd be and bumped into you on purpose." _I should've figured he'd go fishing for information elsewhere._

"I suppose you could be right," Tetsu said. "At any rate, I doubt I was of any use to him."

"What did you tell him?"

"That your relationship with Kagami-kun is none of my business."

"But you're calling me to ask about it anyway."

"Not directly. Kise-kun was with me when I saw Imayoshi-san--"

" _Kise_? Why was Kise there?"

"Kise-kun was there to help me carry my shopping bags."

Somewhere in the distance on Tetsu's end of the line, a voice Aomine had forgotten complained, "That's mean, Kurokocchi!"

"Wait, Tetsu. You and... _Kise_?"

"We can discuss that after we talk about basketball," Tetsu said in a bland monotone. "At any rate, after we returned home, Kise-kun told me a very interesting story about Kagami-kun."

"Did he." Aomine wished he could reach through the telephone and punch Kise in the face.

"Well, it was less 'told me a very interesting story' and more 'ran around the apartment in a panic wondering if it was his fault the two of you split up'."

" _Wondering?_ " Aomine blurted before he could stop himself. "That bastard is just now _wondering_ about it, two years later? You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Tetsu was silent for a few moments, and then Aomine heard a glass door sliding open and then closed again as the sound of distant street traffic filled the background.

"Aomine-kun, I know I just said this really isn't any of my business, but since Kise-kun _was_ involved, it sort of is."

Aomine exhaled. "Sort of."

"Kise-kun told me that he and Kagami-kun got together for drinks once in Tokyo a couple of years ago, and Kagami-kun got a bit tipsy and talked a little too much about your relationship. Kise-kun got the impression that he was deeply unhappy about various important aspects of it."

"Kagami was?"

"Kise-kun seemed to think so. Anyway, at one point in this half-drunk conversation, Kise-kun had suggested that maybe Kagami-kun should try hooking up with other people, and jokingly nominated himself, since he was single at the time."

"Jokingly."

"So he says. Only Kagami-kun took him up on it, and, well, as Kise-kun suspected, you know the rest."

Aomine grunted. "Is there a point to this?"

"Let me guess," Tetsu said. "Kagami-kun came home and told you he'd cheated on you, and you broke up."

"Kagami told you."

"No, he didn't. Let me guess again," Tetsu said. "You took him at his word, asked him no questions about what happened, and threw the world's biggest tantrum."

Aomine thought back to the weeks after the break-up and all the various ways in which he'd expressed his fury at Kagami's betrayal. _World's biggest tantrum_ didn't really begin to encompass it. He hated it when Tetsu was right.

His grip on his phone was starting to make him worry he'd hear a _crunch_ in a second, so he put the phone on speaker and tossed it on the coffee table. "What do you mean, I took him at his word?" he asked. "Are you trying to tell me he _lied_ about cheating on me? That he and Kise never did anything or some shit? Give me a break."

"Lied? No, of course not. Kagami-kun did cheat on you, if we insist on being absolutely literal about it."

"Quit fucking around with me, Tetsu," Aomine growled. "You're trying to lead me to an answer like I'm some fucking kindergartener and it's pissing me off."

"I apologise," Tetsu said. "It's become a habit." During season breaks, Tetsu liked to play with brats at a private preschool in Tokyo; it counted towards his teaching certificate, which was Tetsu's plan for after basketball.

"Don't apologise, just spit it out."

"According to Kise-kun, what happened that night could hardly count as cheating. Kagami-kun never got into it, then became completely miserable, and they didn't really go through with it."

"That's it?" Aomine took the phone off speaker and put it back to his ear. A cold dread was quickly spreading through his chest.

"I'm not about to press Kise-kun for additional details, Aomine-kun. Frankly I'm a little angry that I had to learn any details at all. You might not know it, but I'm a bit of a jealous type."

Part of Aomine wanted to slam the phone down so he could break those annoying fucking whiskey glasses into tiny little shards. Part of him wanted to ask Tetsu's advice. He'd spent the last two years picturing a very different scenario than the one Tetsu had just laid out for him. If Kise was to be believed. Aomine didn't think Kise would lie to Tetsu in any circumstances, though, so there wasn't much of an 'if' there. He grimaced.

"Why did you tell me this? What difference does it make? We've been broken up for two years."

"You and I stopped being friends for a year but we still reconnected."

"That's different. First, we were children. Second-- no, you know what, this is none of your business."

"I know. You're right."

"Then why are you still talking to me about it?"

"I hoped-- no, never mind. That would be out of line. It's just, Kagami-kun's been avoiding my phone calls for a while. I realise now that it's because he doesn't know how to tell me. I should just send him a message and tell him I already know."

"You do that."

"I'm sorry, Aomine-kun."

"For what?"

"That you weren't able to make each other happy."

 _What do you know about it?_ Aomine wanted to snarl. _We_ were _happy_. But he couldn't say it out loud. _He_ had been happy. He'd never asked Kagami if he was happy or not. And now he'd found out that Kagami hadn't been happy at all.

"It's not my fault," he said out loud.

"It's at least a little bit your fault," Tetsu said blandly.

"Shut up. If he's so fucking sensitive he needs to have discussions about our feelings, he should've picked someone else, other than me." Fucking hell. Tetsu somehow always managed to make Aomine say things he didn't mean to say out loud. 

He hung up the phone. He'd call again later and apologise. Maybe. It was none of Tetsu's business, or Kise's; it was none of _anyone's_ business. He jammed his phone into his back pocket and stretched out on the bed.

This didn't change anything. No matter what actually happened with Kise, it had been enough to make Kagami doubt his feelings. It had been enough to make Kagami walk away from Aomine. That was all that mattered now.

_...got the impression that he was deeply unhappy..._

Kagami never said he was unhappy, not even once. If that was how he felt, why did he tell _Kise_? Why not try talking to Aomine first?

But of course Aomine knew the answer to that question. Because Aomine would've brushed him off, ignored him, or told him to leave. He hadn't understood what the word _compromise_ meant until long after they'd broken up. To him, a relationship had meant that the people involved had to accept each other exactly the way they were, and if it wasn't enough, then they shouldn't be together in the first place.

Kind of like Kagami's bone-headed insistence that he couldn't possibly love Aomine if he had sex -- even awful sex, apparently -- with somebody else.

Aomine had changed his mind, though. He understood, now, that a good relationship required at least some effort. Was it possible that Kagami had changed his mind, too? Was he wishing he could take back all the things he'd said?

_Why didn't I notice that he wasn't happy?_

He thought back to Kagami leaving for that goddamned Tokyo trip. The last time they talked normally before Kagami ended them.

_Kagami sets his travel bag down in the entrance and turns to Aomine, who's sprawled out on the couch, contemplating a nap. "I'll be back on Tuesday."_

_"Bring me back something good to eat."_

_"Not gonna come over here and give me a good-bye kiss?" Kagami teases._

_"You're leaving until Tuesday, not until forever," Aomine points out, grinning back. "Besides, you know I hate kissing for no reason."_ He wants to kiss Kagami -- he _always_ does -- but kissing Kagami makes him excited,and he doesn't like letting that go to waste. So he doesn't kiss Kagami when they don't have time to fuck.

_Kagami's smile widens. "Yeah, I know. See you later, Aomine."_

_Something about that last smile rubs Aomine the wrong way -- it felt almost insincere. But this is Kagami. He doesn't have an insincere bone in his body. And why would he fake a smile suddenly? Things are good. They haven't had a fight in ages. Kagami's been spending a lot of extra time at the firehouse, sure, but that's rank: people expect you to work twice as hard for only a small salary increase._

Now, Aomine lay in almost the same position he'd lain then, and wondered if things would've turned out differently if he'd gotten off his ass and given Kagami a kiss. 

_One kiss can't change anything, stupid._

How many refused kisses had it taken? How many times had Kagami faked a smile before he became unhappy enough to cry on the first available shoulder that wasn't Aomine's? Why hadn't he even _tried_ to talk to Aomine about how he was feeling? He could've taken a fucking chance that Aomine would take him seriously.

_Would I have?_

Aomine got up from the bed and paced, stale anger welling up deep in his belly.

If Kagami had come to him and said he was unhappy with how things were between them, would Aomine have listened? He knew what the answer was _now_ , but would he have felt the same before he'd lost Kagami? He didn't know. Back then even the idea of losing Kagami never crossed his mind. He'd have blithely told Kagami to leave if he wasn't happy -- only he wouldn't have worried, even for a second, that Kagami would actually leave. Back then, Aomine was sure they were forever.

_He still should've told me first. Maybe it wouldn't have become like this. Maybe I'd have listened to him. He had no right to decide how I felt without ever asking._

Furious, he grabbed the portfolio where he'd been keeping Kagami's handwritten notes and stomped over to dump them out into the sink. He would soak them all into tatters before tossing them in the garbage where they fucking belonged.

_You forgot your dry-cleaning again, so I brought it over. Pay me back when you come to practice._

Aomine clenched his teeth. He never did pay Kagami back for that. He'd meant to, really. But he'd forgotten all about it, and Kagami had never asked again.

_My dad sent some of that beef jerky you like. I put it with the rest of the beer snacks._

He picked the note up and smoothed it out. He lifted another one out of the sink -- _I have a fever so I brought pizza. Use the toaster oven to heat it, it'll taste better._ Soon he had scooped them all out and arranged them on every available kitchen counter surface. Barely forty in all, one for each week Kagami had been here, except that time Aomine had found him asleep on the couch.

Satsuki had sarcastically called them little love notes, but it occurred to Aomine that no sarcasm was necessary. That was exactly what they were. Kagami loved him. Even while saying that he didn't, he had kept showing it. Coming over here on his day off every week just to make sure Aomine had clean clothes to wear and enough to eat. Then, when Aomine felt ready to move on, he'd simply told Kagami to stop coming around. As if Kagami were some hireling.

Tears leaked hot and sudden down his face, taking away the last traces of his anger.

 _All this time, Kagami thought I didn't love him the way that he loved me. I never bothered to show him, let alone tell him._ Even when he started asking Kagami to come back, he'd never said why. _And still he tried to make up for hurting me. And I just--_

He stared at the notes through the blur in his eyes and realised he couldn't even bring himself to put them away again, let alone throw them out. He understood, finally, what it was that he'd needed to do all along: tell Kagami. Kagami had to know how much he had always mattered to Aomine.

He no longer held out hope for reconciliation: it was far too late for that. They were done; there was no coming back from the bitter things they'd done to each other. He was at peace with that. But he didn't want Kagami to go on thinking Aomine never loved him back. Kagami deserved better than that. They both deserved better than that. The years they'd spent together deserved to mean something.

He splashed his face with water from the kitchen faucet and then dialled Kagami's number, but his cell was off. Steeling himself once again, Aomine called the firehouse. There would be gossip if anyone except Kagami picked up, but he didn't care. He wasn't about to put this off.

"Fire station." A familiar female voice -- probably Tatsumi.

"Is Kagami around?" Aomine had no intention of having this conversation over the phone, but he also didn't want to ambush Kagami with it. He'd ask him to meet off-duty so they could talk.

"...Aomine-san?"

 _God damn it, sometimes I really hate how tiny this town is._ "Yeah," he said. No point pretending otherwise like some middle-schooler with a crush.

"Damn, well, he's out on a call," probably-Tatsumi said. "He should be back in the next hour. I'll tell him you called?"

"I'll come over and wait for him," Aomine said, hanging up. Now that he'd made his decision, he wasn't about to sit around with his thumb up his ass. Face-to-face was better than the phone.

[tbc]


	22. Chapter 22

When Makoto got home after his shift, he found Rin in front of the TV with his training notebook. On the screen, a couple of guys were doing rotisserie drills in an Olympic-sized pool. The voice-over was in English, so Makoto couldn't understand a thing.

Not wanting to disturb Rin's concentration, Makoto tiptoed into the kitchen to make himself a quick sandwich; he was too hungry to wait until they decided what to order for dinner.

On the countertop burner sat a pot full of curry. Both the burner and the rice cooker were in keep-warm mode, but the curry pot was still very hot to the touch.

Makoto bit his lip. He wanted to rush out and hug Rin until he had no strength left, but Rin would get really embarrassed if he did that. They'd decided that until his tryout, Rin was going to spend the weekends at Makoto's. Rin's building supervisor signed off on it without complaint because it turned out he owed Haruno-san, Rin's coworker, a favour from way back. Makoto had been excited that he and Rin would get to live together, if only on a part-time basis, but he hadn't expected Rin to go out of his way to cook. Makoto hadn't even known that Rin _could_ cook.

"I didn't see you come in," Rin said behind him. "I hope it tastes as good as it smells."

"This is incredible," Makoto said, meaning it. He turned to Rin.

"It's only curry," Rin muttered, his cheeks a bit pink. "You put a bunch of things in a pot and wait."

"If I were to do that, I'd set the building on fire," Makoto pointed out, pulling Rin close.

"Good thing it's full of firefighters," Rin demurred.

Makoto grinned. "The curry?"

Rin rolled his eyes. "The _building_."

Makoto kissed the side of Rin's face. "So are you going to say something like, would you like to start with dinner, a bath, or... me?"

Rin snickered. "That was the plan, but you sneaked in before I could practice saying it. Let's eat."

The curry tasted even better than it smelled. After dinner, Makoto washed the dishes while Rin finished taking notes on the video his coach had sent him. Afterwards, they watched the recorded local newscast -- in both their jobs, it was important to know what was going on in the community. But tonight, Makoto paid almost no attention to the news. How could he have, when Rin was sitting next to him in a pair of oversized pyjama bottoms, ahead of a whole weekend together? Makoto was so happy it was a wonder he wasn't floating off the ground. This little apartment had never felt more like home. 

Makoto knew he couldn't start thinking this way. Weekends together was the best Rin could do, and when he would start training for the Olympics, it would be more like one weekend a month, if that. Domestic bliss was never a part of Rin's plans for his future, and Makoto wouldn't try to change that. He would take whatever he was given -- and he was perfectly happy with that. That some days he stared out at nothing and imagined a future where Rin was there with him every day of the week, well, everyone daydreamed sometimes, and that was all they were: daydreams. Not aspirations, not plans, just idle, sweet thoughts that made him smile.

Makoto never wanted Rin to have to choose between dreams and a family. So he wouldn't even think about it in terms of waiting. He wasn't waiting for Rin to achieve his dreams and then settle down. He would simply stay with Rin, no matter where Rin went and what he did, as long as Rin wanted him there. And if Rin never stopped wanting him there, why, that would be the happiest ending Makoto could think of.

His landline rang.

"That can only be work," Makoto said, sighing as he got up from the floor to pick it up. "This is Tachibana."

"It's Kagami. There's a subterranean fire on the island out at port," Kagami said. "We've got guys coming down from all over the district but we need everyone we can get. Can you make it?"

"Subterra--?" Makoto began to ask, then caught himself. Now was not the time for questions. "Of course. I'll call a taxi--"

"No need; one of the trucks en route from the lake will grab you on their way in. Thanks, man."

"Sorry, Rin," Makoto said after he hung up. "There's a serious fire and they need more people. I'll be back in a couple of hours." He grabbed the large duffel bag with his spare set of turnout gear from the upper shelf of the futon closet.

"I don't mind," Rin said, settling back. "Besides, I have yet to watch you change into your work clothes."

Makoto blushed and unzipped the duffel bag.

*

The fire wasn't really underground: what everyone had assumed was a modern art installation on the privately owned man-made island was actually a retractable metal roof over a warehouse-sized space full of all sorts of machinery and electronics. That was where the fire raged, and the smells of burned rubber and plastic were so strong the fire suppression crews were wearing masks.

"Not our job to ask questions," Sado said as Makoto stopped to look down into the inferno. Another fire engine raced across the bridge, heading for the opposite side of the island, where at least eight hoses were already pointed into the machine pit.

Makoto had seen more than his fair share of structure fires in Kurayoshi, where the city liked to cut costs by closing firehouses, meaning hugely overworked crews. He'd never dealt with a fire underground, though. Residential basements weren't common in places he'd lived: on account of all the earthquakes, the building codes were too stringent for builders catering to the average homeowner. He was willing to bet the stylish glass-panelled building where the island's residents lived had a basement, though, since these were obviously not average homeowners. The warehouse roof was open all the way, so there was plenty of ventilation, but there had to be an entrance to the house down there. The flashover risk was tremendous -- the overabundance of oxygen would make this fire incredibly hot.

People whispered that the Italian mafia lived on this island, but everyone Makoto had seen so far looked Japanese. The landowner, Sawada, was short and soft-spoken, seemingly a completely normal guy. He didn't look much older than Makoto -- how wild was that? Makoto wondered if he was some kind of amazing inventor, to have made so much money so early in life. 

A tall, handsome man with a scar on his chin said something to Sawada's bodyguard, who made a move towards the flames.

"I told you, no heroics, Gokudera-kun," Sawada said, lifting a pacifying hand. "Let the firefighters do their job."

"Tachibana, Tadokoro, and Suoh, I don't see you working," the chief said into her megaphone, and Makoto hurried to the staging area.

Their department used a tag system to ensure everyone was accounted for during any building emergency: white tags on a board inside the truck for firefighters awaiting orders, and red tags given to the supervising officer before heading inside the structure.

Makoto had already put his white tag on the board inside the fire engine. Now, he waited and watched three more trucks traverse the bridge. Tatsumi hopped out of one of them and ran to the chief for directions.

"Tachibana, hand in your red tag," Kagami shouted from across the parking lot. "We're going inside the house."

Makoto approached Chief Kotonami, who had just finished with Tatsumi. The chief's bangs were still in rollers; she must've been in bed when the call had come.

Tatsumi paused. "You're going inside with Ta-- Kagami? Tell him he's got a-- no, you know what, never mind, I'm an idiot. Bad timing." She ran off towards the water pump.

"What's with her?" Makoto asked the chief, handing over his red tag.

She shrugged. "Ask her after this wraps up. She's never quite herself when its a big fire like this."

"Chief," Makoto said with a nod and hurried to join Kagami at the front door.

Inside, the house was eerily quiet: the indoor fire alarm was no longer active, and the outside commotion might as well not have been happening at all. _Soundproofed,_ Makoto guessed.

"We're supposed to check the lower level for heat transfer," Kagami said. "But this place is like a tomb. Let's get some windows open." He pushed the intercom button on his helmet. "Chief, we need to get some air in here first. Maybe a couple of guys up on the roof as well, if they'll let us. Is the volunteer crew here yet?"

"The roof's taken care of, you two head on up."

The windows on the two upper floors were all hinged to swing all the way open outside of the building and opening them took almost no time at all. Makoto guessed whichever company built this place knew not to cut fire safety corners. Chatter from the roof crew confirmed it: there were multiple large vents up there. Usually only office developers built to these kinds of codes, and though from the outside the mansion looked like a futuristic science laboratory, on the inside it looked like a perfectly ordinary, if very large, family home. 

_Just goes to show there are all kinds of families,_ Makoto thought as he and Kagami began to make their way down to the basement.

"We just heard there's dynamite in the house," the chief said in Makoto's ear, her voice urgent. "Kaga--" 

Her voice got cut off. Makoto touched the earpiece, but nothing happened. Kagami looked like he was still listening, his face alarmed. Makoto flipped the speaker switch on his radio.

"--function, you need to evacuate," the chief finished.

"Let's go," Kagami said, pointing towards the way out. "Explosives are in the basement, we're not sure where."

Makoto glanced at the rocking horse and messy pile of Legos in a room adjacent to the first-floor kitchen. _All kinds of families, huh._

Kagami stopped just short of the open front door and lifted a hand to his forehead. "Ow, shit!"

"Lieutenant?" Makoto asked.

"I'm fine," Kagami said, his eyebrows knitted together. "Just a weird... headache thing."

He turned to go, and then a loud _boom_ sounded somewhere behind them, from the direction of the underground warehouse.

Makoto felt things: a warm, gentle fist against his whole body, from the back, making him stagger forward. The floor vibrating beneath his boots as a second boom shook the foundation. He saw things: Kagami turning around, his eyes going wide. A spray of concrete, insulation, flooring, and drywall right in front of him. Rin sitting crosslegged on the floor of his apartment, watching him change.

Somewhere, a window was shattering endlessly.

*

Makoto woke in a darkened room, with the vaguely regretful sense that he'd just had a really long, vivid, interesting dream. He couldn't remember any of the details, though.

Rin was here with him, asleep on a metal chair to Makoto's right, leaning his head against a nearby wall. Next to him, on the floor, moonlight made a skewed rectangular pattern.

_Why is he in a chair?_ Makoto thought. _I need to buy a bigger bed._

But this wasn't his bed, and the room was all wrong: instead of the wallpaper the twins had picked out for him, these walls were blank. The floor beneath the moonbeam was the wrong colour, too. _Where am I?_

Makoto sat up to look around, and a sharp pain shot up his left arm. He looked down at it in confusion: an IV needle. "Ouch."

Then he remembered: the island, the underground fire, the explosion. He was in the hospital, though he couldn't figure out why: there was a bit of pain here and there, but he was able to move normally. He had clearly passed out, because he didn't remember the trip here. They must've given him some kind of sedative, too; his head felt a little floatier than usual.

"Rin," he called, his voice barely above a whisper. Makoto cleared his throat. "Rin."

Rin startled awake. "Makoto?" He got up and leaned close over Makoto, his hair falling into his face. Rin's eyes shone brightly in the semi-darkness. "I love you," he said, his voice thick.

Makoto's heart clenched, and he smiled. "I love you too. Is that how they say good morning in Australia?"

Rin sniffed. "It's not even morning yet. You could've _died_."

Makoto reached for Rin's hand. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"It's not your fault," Rin said, lacing their fingers together. Makoto wished he could hug him, but he was now terrified of moving his left arm: that needle had _hurt_. Rin started to cry; he was trying to hide it but Makoto could tell. He knew all too well that simply asking Rin not to cry would just result in Rin angrily insisting that he wasn't crying. While crying.

"The doctor probably won't clear me for GoKarting tomorrow," Makoto said finally after racking his brain for a distraction. "You guys should go anyway."

It worked: Rin looked up at him, incredulous. "Are you nuts?"

Makoto half-shrugged. "We already paid, so it's a waste."

"Don't be ridiculous. It won't be fun without you." Rin put his other hand on top of their linked hands. "Nothing is."

The lights came on, and Makoto's eyes reflexively squeezed shut.

"I told you to call us when he woke up," a man's voice said.

"Sorry," Rin muttered. He didn't sound the least bit sorry, but the nurse couldn't have known that.

"I'll get Dr. Ishida to come and look at him, keep him awake."

Just as Makoto's eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, Chief Kotonami walked in. The rollers were gone from her bangs. "Thank goodness," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine," Makoto said. "It's nothing serious, is it?"

"Not according to the doc," she said. "I held off on notifying your family until you were awake; do you want me to call them now?"

"No, please don't," Makoto said. His parents would drive down here immediately, and as much as he would've been glad to see them, he wanted to be with Rin.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"What about the lieutenant?" Makoto asked quickly, before she tried to convince him to call his dad. "Was he hurt?"

"He's fine. Couple of cuts on his face and a light shoulder sprain from trying to haul you away from there too quickly. Most of the damage happened underground. How much do you remember?"

"Everything until the floor exploded," Makoto said. Rin's hands on his tightened. "Was anyone else hurt?"

"No, but the fire's still going. Except now there's also police tape around the whole place." Her tone was dry. "Turns out storing dynamite in your basement is not only dangerous but illegal."

Aomine stuck his head into the room.

"Senpai? How did they let you in?" Rin asked, looking affronted. "They wouldn't let Haru past the lobby."

"I called him here," Chief Kotonami said. "Kagami thinks it's his fault Tachibana got hurt. I need you to make him un-think that, and quickly."

Aomine's eyebrows shot up. "Me? Kanae, you _know_ \--"

"Don't Kanae me; at this point you're the only one he'll listen to, and you know it."

"Why does he think it's his fault?" Makoto exclaimed. Did Kagami think pausing in that doorway caused the explosion? Makoto wouldn't have made it that much further even if Kagami hadn't stopped abruptly. In fact, he would have ended up right where the floor had ripped open in the secondary explosion. If anything, Kagami's sudden headache probably _saved_ Makoto--

" _Was_ it his fault?" Rin asked with narrowed eyes.

Chief Kotonami shook her head. "Tachibana got hurt because the clowns who live on that island didn't tell us about the dynamite in the first place. We would never have sent people in if we'd known." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Now I will also get hurt -- under the mountain of paperwork this lawsuit's going to generate."

"Wait, these guys nearly got Tachibana killed and they're _suing_ you?" Aomine asked.

"No, no," the chief said. "The district is going to sue _them_. Shit, I wasn't supposed to tell you that." She sighed. "It's been one hell of a night. Bring back my lieutenant."

"Where is he?" Aomine asked with a resigned sigh.

"No idea. He declared himself on voluntary unpaid suspension and took off," the chief said. "When you find him, tell him he can have three days off, but that's it."

[tbc]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those unfamiliar with the Reborn! canon (where the Vongola family hails from); one of the main characters uses dynamite as a weapon and is constantly carrying around enough dynamite to blow up a small building or two. The canon never specifies where he keeps the dynamite he isn't using, though. >.>


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was really no way this was going to fit into 2-3K worlds so, um, enjoy the extra long AoKaga chapter, I guess! :D

Aomine parked by the post office and glanced at the cruiser's clock: one thirty in the morning. 

He had spent an hour and a half waiting for Kagami at the firehouse, but when even Tatsumi had left aboard a truck inbound from Shizuoka, he'd realised the conversation would have to be put off after all. He'd been halfway home when the call about the explosions came over the intercom, then the reports of an unconscious firefighter and the whole island becoming a crime scene..

He'd been sickeningly certain Kagami was that firefighter until he'd made it to the docks and found out that Tachibana was in the hospital and Kagami was in the wind. He had made it all the way home after that, and he'd gone across to Kagami's building to see if he was home, just to make sure he was doing okay. But Kagami's apartment was silent, the windows empty and dark. Then Kanae had called him to the hospital.

Now it was one-thirty, and Aomine did happen to have an idea where to find Kagami after all that had gone on tonight. The same place Kagami had used to go when he and his dad were having the fight of the century: the upper beachfront, a shelf of rock that jutted out over the waves. During the day it teemed with people, but the town had skimped on exterior lighting and had to cordon it off after dark. First responders were allowed at any time, of course, so it was a good place to be alone.

Aomine went down a set of wide stone steps past a _Please Watch Out for Hungry Birds_ sign illuminated by a spotlight on the ground. He stepped right over the metal gate with a _No Entry Between Dusk and Dawn_ notice hanging from it. The ocean was quiet tonight, the waves gentle and languid now that the rainy season was over. Far offshore, a cruise boat lit up a sliver of the night in warm yellows, but only soft white moonlight illuminated the wooden walkway ahead.

Kagami sat on one of the benches further along the way, still in his turnout gear except for the helmet. His elbows rested on his knees, one hand clasped around a clenched fist, head bowed low past his hunched shoulders. Aomine's heart did the 'behold, Kagami' thing like it always did -- and probably always would, no matter where life took him -- but this one last time, he wasn't going to keep his distance. He walked over and crouched right in front of Kagami, half expecting a _get out of my face_ , but Kagami didn't even flinch. He raised his head and looked at Aomine.

Kagami's jaw was tight and his cheeks were wet; his eyes were so bloodshot it was even noticeable in the scant light of the moon. There was a nasty black-stitched cut on his upper left cheekbone and a Band-Aid on his lower right jaw.

"I am _sorry_ ," Kagami whispered, then dropped his head back down.

Aomine had never seen Kagami so unhappy, never seen his eyes so full of pain, his face so unguardedly miserable. And he had never been more certain that the only thing he truly wanted in the world was to make sure Kagami never had cause to look like this again. There was nothing he wouldn't do or say.

"You look like the sorriest bastard on the planet, too," he said.

"Aomine," Kagami mumbled, his voice unsteady. "Aomine."

Aomine didn't know how to respond. He had never been good at dealing with people in distress unless it was for work, and he didn't think that advising Kagami to take a deep breath and try to keep calm was the thing to do here. He thought about taking Kagami's hands into his, the way Matsuoka had done with Tachibana earlier. He even started to reach out with one hand, but stopped. Kagami had made it more than clear that he didn't want Aomine touching him.

"D-don't cry," he ventured. "Tachibana's gonna be fine, so--"

"Shouldn't you be arresting me?" Kagami asked. "What happened to Tachibana is my fault."

"Why, you set the fire?"

Kagami sniffed. "No."

"So you planted the dynamite?"

"Of course I didn't," Kagami muttered, still not raising his head. "That's not the point."

Aomine craned his neck to peer into Kagami's eyes. "You're not giving me any good reasons to arrest you here."

"I haven't been sleeping, all right?" Kagami snapped, looking away. "I can't sleep properly, haven't for weeks. Couple of hours is all I get at a time. Been keeping myself alert with caffeine pills and shit. But now I've been getting these headaches, and sometimes… Sometimes I forget what I'm doing, like I'm sleeping while awake. I don't even drive the truck any more because of it. It happened when we were inside. I-- I _stopped_."

"And you think that makes you responsible? Don't be an ass. I read Tachibana's statement. If you hadn't stopped and caused him to stop too, he'd be _dead_."

"No. We'd have been clear of the building."

Aomine had seen that in Kagami's statement already, and, like the interviewing officer, he knew it was nonsense. "The only way you could've been clear of the building was if you sprinted. And you weren't sprinting because you are fucking trained to know that vibration and homemade explosives don't go well together."

"We could've made it out," Kagami said, his expression almost petulant. 

Aomine smirked. "You wanna blame yourself, I can't stop you. But you're sleep deprived, so don't go acting like you're the most objective person here."

Kagami exhaled heavily. "You say the nicest things."

"What's the doctor say about the sleeping problems? Why you've been having them?"

"I don't need a doctor; I know why. It's none of your business." Kagami's voice was gruff.

"Fine," Aomine said. "Maybe you'd get some sleep if you didn't live at the firehouse, at least."

"How do you know--?"

"It's too early in the fucking morning for me to pretend like I don't give a shit about what you do," Aomine grumbled. "Come on, I'll drive you home." He straightened and offered Kagami a hand up, expecting to be ignored.

But Kagami stared at Aomine's open hand and then unclasped his fist, revealing a ring with three keys on it. Keys to Aomine's apartment, his building's laundry room, and his mailbox.

"I-- These belong to you."

The keys were warm against Aomine's palm, not cold like he'd always thought they would be. He used to picture them hanging on the empty hook by the shoe rack in his apartment, quietly reminding him that he was alone.

Could it be that those keys meant the same thing to Kagami that they did to Aomine? He remembered all the time he'd spent wondering what he'd do once Kagami left those keys behind. In Aomine's mind, the keys had stood for all that was left between the two of them. That had been before he'd told Kagami to stop coming over. A part of him still wondered if he hadn't done that so he never had to watch Kagami leave the keys behind of his own will. Yet here they were again.

"I know you changed your lock," Kagami added, gazing at the keys. "But--"

"I didn't," Aomine said, closing his fingers around them. He was tempted to toss them into the ocean but what would be the point? It would only make Kagami feel bad, and that was the last thing he wanted. "So thanks." He would put them on the hook when he got home. Back in their place.

 _Why was he holding them?_ Aomine supposed he could ask, but he doubted he would get a real answer. He put the keys in his windbreaker pocket, next to his own set. Well, both sets were just his now.

He held his hand out again to Kagami, who just sat there gazing up at Aomine's face with eyes as sad as the day he'd moved out. "Let's go."

"Why are you even here?" Kagami asked, still not moving.

Aomine let his hand drop to his side. "Kanae asked me to find you, so I did."

Kagami looked away. "Oh. Thanks."

"Well, actually, I was at the firehouse earlier, waiting for you," Aomine said. Kagami would find out about it the minute he went back to work, anyway.

"What for?"

 _Shit._ Now was not exactly a good time to say what he'd meant to say to Kagami when he'd shown up at the firehouse. It had been a long night, and at this point Aomine didn't think he'd be able to get through what he'd wanted to say without becoming all worked up, and Kagami didn't need that tonight. Or any night.

It was funny how heavy two sets of keys could feel. 

He shrugged. "It's not that important. Now don't make me fucking drag you to the car."

On the ride home, Aomine kept his eyes on the road, only occasionally glancing at Kagami, who sat with his head turned to the passenger side window and said nothing. Aomine had never known that Kagami could be this withdrawn -- part of it had to be the sleep dep, but it wasn't right for Kagami to be so quiet and morose. He regretted driving Kagami home. He should have taken him to a friend's, but he didn't even know which of Kagami's friends wouldn't mind getting woken up in the middle of the night for his sake.

 _Does he have anyone like that?_ Kagami had always been the one everyone else relied on, but who took care of _him_?

Aomine went past the turn into the firefighters' complex and continued towards home.

"I'll just walk back over," Kagami remarked, craning his neck slowly to look at his building, now far behind them.

Aomine pulled into a service parking spot and killed the engine. "You're not going anywhere," he said after they both got out of the car. "Kanae would skin me if she found out I left you alone like this." He stuck his hands in his pockets and glared. "Even if it weren't for her, I'm not gonna leave you. I'll follow you home and meow at your fucking door all night if you don't come with me."

Kagami stared at him, and Aomine stared back. He didn't _want_ to invite Kagami upstairs; it would only make him miserable. But he _knew_ with a gut-level, preternatural certainty that Kagami shouldn't be alone, and there was simply no one else. Kagami must've known it too, because instead of waving Aomine off and walking away like he would have any other time, Kagami nodded. He looked tired and resigned, like the car trip had somehow sapped whatever energy reserves he had left.

When they got upstairs, Kagami took his shoes off and just stood there, staring at nothing and getting in Aomine's way.

"Go take a seat or something," Aomine said as he hung the newly spare set of keys up on the empty hook.

Kagami walked to one of the kitchen chairs, sat down heavily, and stared up at Aomine, looking for all the world like he expected more instructions.

This was all too familiar. Back when Kagami and his dad were having their epic fight, Kagami would sometimes get like this: here but not, so lost in his own private hell that he just did whatever he was told without question. Aomine had found it weird and distressing back then, but now maybe it was for the best.

He went to the pile of unfolded laundry that had occupied the couch for weeks and dug out a pair of boxers, a t-shirt, and a bath towel. "Here," he said, shoving it all into Kagami's lap. "Go take a shower and try to get some rest. Take the bed. I'll put the screen up."

They'd bought the screen -- an opaque black folding thing that nearly reached the ceiling -- so Kagami could sleep after his shifts while Aomine watched TV or played games. Aomine had forgotten all about it until now -- or thought he had. It had come to mind so easily, as if he still used it every day. He hadn't so much as touched it since the last time Kagami slept in their bed. _Aomine's_ bed.

While Kagami showered, Aomine transferred the laundry from the sofa onto the floor so he had room to sleep, trying not to think about how normal it felt to hear the shower, to know it was Kagami in there. If he closed his eyes and unfocussed his mind, he could almost pretend the last two years had never happened.

He was digging in the futon closet for an extra pillow when the bathroom door creaked open. "Aomine?"

Although he desperately wanted to, Aomine didn't turn around. "What do you want?"

"Do you have a toothbrush I could use?"

Aomine frowned, then remembered Yachiru's recent trip to the dentist to help a stubborn baby tooth along. Satsuki had promised her all the hundred-yen dinosaur toothbrushes she wanted if she was a good girl and didn't cry. Yachiru had made her buy three dozen and then proceeded to give away all but a couple. She had insisted Aomine take one for Kagami, too, even though Satsuki had long ago explained to her that Kagami and Aomine had a fight that was forever. But Yachiru didn't believe in forever yet.

_Where did I put them?_

Aomine went to the sink and pulled out the drawer underneath it. There they were: red and blue toothbrushes with dinosaur handles, wrapped securely in cheap, noisy plastic.

He picked up the red one. "Catch," he said, lobbing it in the direction of the bathroom, where it clattered to the floor. Aomine finally looked at Kagami, who was standing in the bathroom doorway already dressed in the clothes Aomine had given him, the towel resting on his shoulders. He looked down at the fallen toothbrush in apparent confusion.

Aomine sighed and went to pick it up. _Good thing it's wrapped._ "How out of it are you?" he asked, getting up and finding himself much closer to Kagami than he had intended to end up.

He had many extremely vivid memories of what Kagami's skin felt like when it was damp and hot like this; Kagami always took showers at the hottest temperature he could handle, and he would radiate heat for a little while afterwards.Aomine used to love catching him right at those moments and putting his hands on every part of Kagami he could reach. And, well, the bed was only three paces from the bathroom.

Standing this close, close enough that his skin tingled with the warmth coming from Kagami's direction, nearly overwhelmed him now; he could practically feel every twitch of Kagami's body against his, the warmth of Kagamis's neck against his lips. He shoved the toothbrush at Kagami and walked back to the relative safety of the couch. It had been a while since he was forced to remember how hot Kagami made him. He didn't know how much of this was like those dumb dogs who salivated at bells instead of food, but he couldn't even recall a time in his life when he hadn't wanted Kagami.

The bathroom door closed again. Aomine exhaled, dug the fingers of both hands into his hair, and considered running down to the convenience store for some hard liquor. But getting drunk while Kagami stayed over was a terrible idea, so he grabbed the pull tab on the side of the privacy screen and stretched it out to the other wall, blocking the bed and the bathroom door from view. A two-year-old dust deposit flew from the top of the screen and made him sneeze.

*

It was three in the morning, and Aomine lay staring up at the ceiling in the murky gloom of his apartment and getting completely fed up with wondering if Kagami was awake. And if he wasn't, how long would he stay asleep? And if Aomine went to sleep and Kagami woke up, would he just leave? Would that really be okay? Aomine hadn't managed to do anything except bully Kagami into staying over. He didn't know if Kagami still believed he was at fault for Tachibana's injuries. He didn't know if Kagami would go back to work after the weekend was over. He didn't know if Kagami was okay. He hadn't _looked_ okay.

Also, Aomine had to piss, but the bathroom was on Kagami's side of the room. What if Kagami _was_ sleeping for the first time in who knew how long, and Aomine woke him up needlessly? Maybe he could go next door and ask Shura if he could use the bathroom, make up a lie about his toilet being broken. No, Shura would just offer to fix the goddamn toilet. After breaking his teeth for waking her up at this hour.

 _Fuck it,_ Aomine thought, got off the couch, and tiptoed over to the screen, pulling it aside just enough for him to fit through.

His business done, he was going to tiptoe right back to the couch, but the sight of a Kagami-shaped lump in his bed proved too tempting. Kagami had decided to lie down on Aomine's side of the bed for some reason. Aomine came over, telling himself he'd just check if Kagami was asleep.

He wasn't. He lay on his side, arms tucked under the pillow, eyes open.

Aomine sat down on the floor by the side of the bed with his back to Kagami. "Is there anything that'll help you sleep?" he whispered. He didn't know why he was whispering since there was no need to be quiet.

Kagami shifted but didn't answer. Aomine craned his neck to look at him. In the soft green glow of the bedside digital clock, he could see that the Band-Aid on Kagami's chin had come loose in the shower and was barely hanging on.

"I'll get you another Band-Aid," Aomine said, getting back up, but one of Kagami's hands shot out from under the pillow and grabbed his wrist.

"Don't leave," Kagami whispered.

Aomine's chest felt tight. He sat back down, on the side of the bed this time, but for some reason couldn't look at Kagami's face any more. What did Kagami mean -- don't leave now? Don't leave ever? Did he just want someone to be here with him, or did he want Aomine? Did it matter?

As Aomine sat there trying to figure out which question to ask, Kagami's grip on him began to slacken. Aomine looked at him again: his eyes were closed. A few minutes later, his hand fell open, freeing Aomine's wrist. Kagami muttered something indistinct and flopped over onto his back, then over again to end up on his usual side of the bed.

_Seriously? He fell asleep?_

It was no use wondering what was going on in Kagami's head when he couldn't ask him, but Aomine wasn't about to forget this. A hope he'd thought gone -- that maybe he and Kagami weren't finished after all -- came back like candlelight from a sudden wind-gust.

Aomine had _meant_ to back to the couch, but he no longer had any desire to. With Kagami here, the bed felt _right_ again, even to sit on the edge of it like he was. Quietly, he lay down and rolled a little to get under the covers. Like this, with Kagami's weight counterbalancing his, the bed was perfect, and Aomine wasn't about to leave. It wasn't like he was touching Kagami. He didn't have to justify or explain wanting to sleep in his own goddamn bed. He never _said_ he'd sleep on the couch. 

Aomine pulled the blanket over his head and turned his back to Kagami.

When he woke up, it was light in the apartment, and the bedside clock read eight-thirty. Aomine had a brief _oh, shit_ moment, thinking he'd late for work, then remembered it was Saturday. He turned to look out at the weather, but instead of the window saw the black privacy screen he hadn't used in years. Then he saw Kagami next to him, sound asleep, and remembered last night -- the fire, the explosions, Kagami telling him he hadn't slept right in ages. He decided he didn't want to get out of bed just yet. If only to avoid waking Kagami up.

But it was too late. Kagami's eyes opened slowly. When he saw Aomine, the annoyed "damn it, I'm awake" wrinkle between his eyebrows vanished, and he smiled so happily Aomine felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart with a splintered wooden stake.

"I had the worst dream," Kagami murmured, rolling into Aomine's arms as though he belonged there.

 _He does,_ Aomine thought, pulling Kagami to himself as tightly as he could. It was selfish and stupid to take advantage of a clearly sleep-confused Kagami, but Aomine had never claimed to be selfless or smart.

Kagami inhaled deeply. "I dreamt that we broke up," he said to Aomine's chest. "And it was all my fault."

Aomine kissed the top of his head and held him fast. "Go back to sleep, dumbass."

That was the only way this could last longer.

*

The next time he woke, the air smelled like someone was frying something delicious, and though the clock said it was one thirty in the afternoon, Aomine felt like it was morning. Like a brand new day was opening up in front of him. He hadn't felt that way about his days in a long time.

He took a piss, brushed his teeth, and wandered out past the partially-drawn screen into the kitchen, where Kagami stood in front of the electric burner, dressed in his turnout pants and the T-shirt Aomine had given him last night. The pile of laundry was gone, and a fan on the windowsill in front of the open window pushed tepid but fresh air around the apartment. _Oh, right, I still need to get someone in to fix the air conditioner._

He stared at Kagami, thinking about the unguarded smile on his face, the way he'd fallen asleep so quickly first with his hand on Aomine's wrist, and then again in Aomine's arms. He wished they could pretend like the last two years had been a bad dream. He wished Kagami would turn around and smile the way he had in the morning. He wished they could be okay again. 

After two years of trying to leave Kagami behind, Aomine still couldn't fucking do it.

 _I just want him back._ No more difficult conversations, no more anger, no more tears. Especially not Kagami's. It sounded so good in his own mind he was all but ready to say it out loud.

"Something was growing in your rice cooker that might've been from a different planet," Kagami said over his shoulder. "I threw it in the garbage."

"So what, you destroyed an entire alien civilisation even before breakfast?" Aomine asked, grinning, stepping closer to see what was cooking. Eggs sunny side up for one. By the tense line of Kagami's shoulders, Aomine easily guessed _which_ one. "You were just going to make breakfast for me and leave, weren't you?"

"Thanks for letting me stay," Kagami said. The Band-Aid was missing from his jaw, and the cut looked like it had been bleeding. "You didn't have to do that."

 _I want you to stay for good,_ Aomine wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn't move. 

He was staring at the pile of Kagami's notes sitting off to the side on the kitchen counter. He'd forgotten that he'd gone out last night having left them there. They had been spread out side by side when he'd seen them last, and now they were in a neat little stack by the rice cooker. Kagami had to have been the one to put them there so he could cook. What must he have thought?

"Why did you keep those?" Kagami asked, staring into the frying pan as if it held the secret of the Zone.

"They're the only love letters I've ever gotten," Aomine said. He had no time or desire to come up with some face-saving story so he wouldn't look like a complete dweeb.

"They're not--" Kagami stopped speaking and switched the burner off. "We can't go back to the way it was before."

 _So he was thinking the same thing I was._ The thought made Aomine feel warmer.

"I know." _We could have something better._ But he couldn't say something like that before telling Kagami what he should've told him years ago.

Kagami turned to face him, one eyebrow slightly raised. "So you've finally accepted it."

"I also know what really happened with Kise," Aomine continued.

Kagami's eyes went wide. "What are you--?"

"Tetsu told me," Aomine said, ignoring him. "He and Kise are apparently a thing now."

"Kuroko and--?" Kagami broke off and shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"I love you," Aomine said. "I've loved you since forever ago."

Kagami looked dumbfounded. "But you said you didn't."

Aomine blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"After I told you I wanted to break up. You told me you never had any feelings for me, that I wasn't even your type. That you were only ever with me because it beat paying a housekeeper and you got to have sex whenever you wanted."

Aomine had no memory of saying any of that. He remembered that he'd done and said a lot of awful things, true. It had not occurred to him that Kagami might remember them in a lot more detail than he did.

"I didn't mean that," Aomine said lamely. "I was just--"

"You threw away Tatsuya's ring," Kagami insisted. "You were screwing some stranger knowing I was in the room. You told him I was nobody. A roommate."

"I didn't do those things because I love you," Aomine said, meeting Kagami's eyes. "I did them because I'm an asshole."

"You're not an--" Kagami began, then sighed. "Okay, you are an asshole." He turned his back to Aomine again. "So don't tell me that you loved me. It doesn't change what happened."

"I know," Aomine said. "I just wish--"

"And I still cheated on you," Kagami said, hanging his head. "Nothing is going to change that, either."

"So we're both assholes, I don't care," Aomine said. "I get why you did it. I wish I could've been the kind of.man you wanted me to be."

"I never wanted you to be a different person."

"I don't mean it like that. I mean I wish I'd done stuff like holding your hand and calling you just to talk, about, I dunno, the fucking weather or something." Aomine tried to remember what kind of things he'd overheard Matsuoka cooing to Tachibana about, but his thoughts were racing too quickly. "Shit, I lived with you for years and don't even know what kind of music you like."

Kagami said nothing.

"You're the one who's always deserved better," Aomine continued. "But I wanted you for myself. I thought I didn't need to tell you how I felt about you because you knew it already." His voice wavered and his eyes stung as the hope that had surged up in him last night vanished again. He was stupid to have thought that anything might change. The words he spoke felt like a eulogy, a graveyard confession. "I never thought you would leave me, no matter what happened. I was a fucking idiot." His throat grew too tight for words. He had thought of all these things before, but now that he had said them, he was overwhelmed with grief for a future they would never know. "I wish I could have made you happy."

"House," Kagami said in a gravelly voice.

"What?"

Kagami turned around, face wet, eyes red and swollen. "I like house music. What kind of music do you like?"

He threw his arms around Aomine's neck and held on tight. Aomine hugged him back reflexively, heart pounding, brain not quite willing to believe what was happening. Kagami's shoulders trembled, and Aomine stroked his mid-back with one hand without really thinking about it.

"I miss you," Kagami said. "Take me back."

Aomine exhaled. "Took you fucking long enough."

They stayed like that for a while. Behind Kagami, the rice cooker switched to stay-warm mode with a series of three tinny beeps. Kagami's breathing evened out, and he tightened his arms around Aomine without a word. Outside, the neighbourhood kids' usual Saturday afternoon pick-up game of baseball grew ever noisier. Aomine's eyes stopped leaking and he became able to breathe through his nose again. Next door, Shura was yelling -- either someone on the phone or one of her fighting games. It didn't feel like two years had gone by since they were together last.

Kagami pulled back a bit, moving his hands to Aomine's shoulders, and leaned in to kiss him. Aomine expected furious, overwhelming heat, like last night outside the bathroom, but it was different from that -- slow-building warmth like drops of liquid honey. Kagami's lips were dry and soft, his breath noisy and hot. Aomine raised his hands to touch the sides of Kagami's face, careful of the stitches on his cheek. He pulled Kagami closer still and made the kisses deeper, taking his time, his passion for Kagami that he'd kept in check for so long rising up with cautious languor.

Kagami put his hands into Aomine's shirt and pulled, making him step forward until Kagami's back was against the kitchen counter. Aomine put his hands on the counter on either side of Kagami and pressed his forehead against Kagami's. "I wanna undress you."

Kagami kissed him. "So undress me."

Aomine remembered all those times he'd gone by the firehouse and stared at these low-riding turnout pants wishing he could take them off. So he took his time here too, tugging Kagami's T-shirt out, unclipping the suspenders, stroking Kagami's hipbones with both thumbs as his tongue lapped at Kagami's neck while Kagami whimpered, one hand on the small of Aomine's back, the other in his hair. When the pants fell down around his ankles, Kagami kicked them away impatiently.

"Enjoying yourself?" Aomine murmured between kisses to the uninjured side of Kagami's chin, his cheek, and then the side of his neck again.

Kagami tried to glare at him, but he was so turned on that his eyes were all bedroom, no fight. "Put your dick in my ass."

Aomine pulled him closer and kissed his face. "In the kitchen?" In the past, Kagami had always insisted that sex in the kitchen was off-limits because it was unhygienic.

"Bleach exists for a reason," Kagami said, sliding his hands underneath Aomine's shirt, making him shiver.

"How about I carry you to the bed and fuck you there?" Aomine offered.

"Too far," Kagami breathed into his ear.

"The lube and condoms are over there anyway."

"Fine. But don't carry me, you'll hurt yourself."

"I could do it one-armed," Aomine objected. "How much weight have you lost?"

"Not enough for you to carry me with one arm," Kagami retorted.

Aomine put a hand on his ass and kissed him, angling Kagami's hips to make him rub against his leg. Kagami made a noise deep in his chest and redoubled his efforts to remove Aomine's shirt. Aomine's shreds of composure were rapidly fading; the feeling of Kagami's hard cock against his thigh made him hotter than he'd expected. He fumbled his hand inside Kagami's boxers. Kagami's dick was like hot silk against Aomine's palm. He had barely got his fingers around it when Kagami's hips shot up and forward; he came, moaning, in copious amounts all over Aomine's hand and shirt.

"Shit, I forgot how good you are at this," Kagami muttered, his face flushed, hiding his eyes.

"I'll just have to keep reminding you until you don't forget again," Aomine murmured, licking come off his fingers. The smell and texture made his lower belly tingle pleasantly: it was Kagami's taste, and he'd missed that too.

A few minutes later, they lay naked in bed, covers thrown off to the side, touching each other a lot and talking little, and this time it was Aomine's turn to realise he'd forgotten how good _Kagami_ was. The things he could do with his mouth made Aomine's breath run out and his whole body shake, drawing noises out of him that didn't sound human. 

Kagami's eyes were clouded when he came up for a kiss. "Let's do it like the first time," he said, rubbing his thumb gently against Aomine's leaking slit. Their first time had been in another bed, with Kagami on his stomach, ass lifted just enough for Aomine to fuck him from a low kneel. It was the least painful way Aomine knew of, for a first time bottom. 

This was hardly Kagami's first time bottoming, but it was also Aomine's favourite way to fuck Kagami, even though he didn't think he'd ever _told_ Kagami as much. He loved seeing the full expanse of Kagami's back in front of him, muscles flexing beneath his skin as he moved to let Aomine in deeper or dipped to change to the angle that made him bury his face in the pillow and moan. It let Aomine go at the pace that he wanted, and right now he wanted it nice and slow, pulling out almost all the way and thrusting in as far as he could, to feel like he was sinking deep into Kagami, all the way in.

It felt too good, and he was ready to come within minutes, but he didn't want to stop yet. As he tried to think of a way to keep himself from coming, he came, gasping, the syllables of Kagami's name spilling from his lips just a breath away from Kagami's ear. It felt like forever rolled up in a few seconds, and as the pulsing in his lower belly abated, he lay down on his side and pressed his forehead against Kagami's shoulder.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you more," Kagami said sleepily. "And I just came on your sheets. We'd better get them off before it goes through to the mattress."

"You came?" Aomine asked. He hadn't noticed. "When?"

"You were busy," Kagami said, getting up on all fours. "Where are my underpants?"

They stripped the sheets off together, and Kagami set them to soak in a washtub full of lukewarm water and a bit of detergent. Aomine lay back on the bare mattress, watching him through the open bathroom door. His heart was so full he could hardly believe that a mere week ago he was full of bitter resentment and wishing he could forget Kagami existed. _How could I ever forget?_

Kagami came out of the bathroom, took one look at Aomine, and laughed. "You were supposed to put new sheets on."

Aomine grinned. "Was I? I'm too hungry," he announced, getting off the bed. "Will half the eggs be enough for you?"

"No, you have them, I'll eat later."

"I'm not gonna eat by myself," Aomine objected. "I've done enough of that for a lifetime."

Kagami's face flushed. "Are you always going to say embarrassing stuff without warning now?"

"Get used to it. Let's eat."

"I'll reheat the eggs," Kagami said. "Rice is probably lukewarm by now too."

Aomine pulled on a fresh pair of underwear and followed him to the kitchen.

"How long did the chief say I had to report to work?" Kagami asked, scooping rice from the cooker onto a microwaveable plate.

Aomine hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Kagami's boxers and kissed his right shoulder blade. "Three days."

"So I don't have to go until Tuesday." Kagami leaned back into Aomine, making his mouth go dry and his dick hard. Again. He wanted to really see Kagami come this time.

"I'll call in sick for Monday," Aomine said. "Take these off."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, for your dick."

[tbc]


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's extra-long Makorins just before the end! I hope you enjoy. ^^

After nearly one full week of mandatory sick leave, Makoto was going stir-crazy. The hospital had let him go home after two days, but then the chief had insisted that he take several more days to recover at home.

Makoto had tried to protest -- he _felt_ fine -- until Tatsumi called and explained that if he just showed up at work after a mere weekend in the hospital, it would create problems when discovery began for the lawsuit the department was bringing against the Vongola family. Injuries were more or less part of a firefighter's job description, but paid time off as a result of becoming injured? That was a different story. Once money had to be spent on mitigating the effects of an injury, _that_ put the sparkle right into every tort lawyer's eye.

He wanted no part of the lawsuit, personally -- he'd just been doing his job. Although no one _wanted_ firefighters to put themselves in harm's way, everyone silently expected them to do it anyway. But this wasn't about him, and if it was for the best of the whole department, he would bear with it. Trouble was, the chief ordered him not to leave his apartment at all, in case the Vongola hired someone to watch him. And when he returned to work, he'd be on modified duty for months. That meant no truck, no calls, and almost no drills -- just a lot of community outreach stuff like kindergartener firehouse tours. 

It was too bad this was all happening just when Makoto _wanted_ to be extra busy. Only two weeks remained until Rin's tryout. Once Rin passed that, Makoto would hardly ever get to see him for weeks or maybe even months at a time. What was he supposed to distract himself with?

Rin had come over every night after work and stayed until the last minute possible before his curfew. And it had been nice, waiting for Rin to come home. But it reminded Makoto all the more sharply that time was running out. There were so many things they hadn't done together yet -- a date at an amusement park, greeting the sunrise, wandering the back alleys of a larger city and stopping at the first ramen place they found if they got hungry. Kissing underneath a shuttered shop's awning while trapped in a downpour.

Makoto stretched out on his bed and closed his eyes. His mind immediately provided an extremely vivid memory of Rin kneeling on the other end of the bed, his head between Makoto's legs, his mouth wet and warm. _I was thinking about romantic kisses, for crying out loud,_ Makoto thought, glaring at the tent in his boxers. He pulled his dick out and stared at it a little resentfully, wishing he could stop thinking about touching it.

These thoughts had become more and more persistent since he'd ended up on voluntary house arrest. Between video games and trying to follow cooking shows in hopes of becoming less of a kitchen failure, he only really had daydreams. All of those were about Rin; that was always the case. But with all this extra time he had, his daydreams got longer, more detailed, and the opposite of innocent. What was he going to do when he returned to work? All he had to do was space out during an equipment-check and oops, erection.

Having gone through puberty in a house with two small children, Makoto never quite felt comfortable doing this. Though consciously he _knew_ that he was in his own apartment, that the twins weren't going to burst in unannounced and see something way too grown-up for their innocent eyes. Besides, the twins were teenagers themselves, now.

Makoto sighed and rolled onto his side, trying to get back to the downpour or the ramen shop or the sunrise. But his back arched involuntarily as his mind offered something that had yet to happen and had been on his mind for weeks -- Rin's cock in him. He imagined it so clearly that this pelvic floor muscles relaxed almost instinctively and his dick began to throb. Makoto wrapped his hand around it and went to work. He'd better take care of this before Rin's arrival.

Rin had spent all week treating Makoto as though he were made of the finest porcelain. Before the explosion, Rin would let his kisses linger more often than not, but all week he'd been keeping them short. He'd kept his hands mostly to himself too, and hadn't uttered a single innuendo. Admittedly, Makoto wasn't very good at knowing Rin was flirting, so maybe that last part wasn't true.

Makoto kind of understood why Rin didn't want to -- sex took a lot of energy, and the doctor had said that Makoto wasn't allowed do anything strenuous for a while. In Makoto's opinion, that meant no moving heavy furniture for hours at a time, but maybe Rin had taken it differently. Now, even after four days, Rin still hadn't shown any signs he wanted anything beyond snuggling in front of the TV.

Makoto hadn't tried to push. If Rin didn't want to get physical, then they weren't going to get physical. The reason didn't matter. If Makoto wanted to release some tension in that way, he had his hands. Which he'd used more often in the past week than he remembered doing in years. He would also run out of lube in a week if he kept this up.

*

Makoto was _thisclose_ when he heard the key in the door. _Oh, no._ He scrambled, mortified, off the bed and towards the bathroom. He must've lost track of time because he'd kept getting distracted. He shut the bathroom door behind him and flipped the sink faucet to hot.

"Makoto?" Rin called.

"I'm just in the bathroom, I'll be right out!"

His breathing back to normal, hands clean and butt crack no longer covered in lube, Makoto was about to walk out and greet Rin when he realised he'd left his boxers behind. And his shirt wasn't long enough to cover him. Makoto peered inside the laundry basket, but there was nothing in it.

He tried to listen at the door to figure out where Rin was -- maybe he could duck out and get decent while Rin contemplated the inside of the refrigerator or something -- but he had no idea what to listen _for_. Well, there was nothing for it. He would just have to walk out like this and put his boxers back on. If Rin wanted to know why, he'd just have to lie that he'd been about to take a shower but decided against it when he'd heard Rin arrive. 

Makoto opened the bathroom door and walked right into Rin. Of course he did.

"Ah, sorry," Rin said, backing up a step. He wore his hair tied back today and looked distractingly handsome, and Makoto was pulling him in for a kiss before he remembered that he was still not wearing any underwear.

He wanted to just give Rin a quick kiss hello and then go get dressed. He really meant to do that. But his arousal from before hadn't gone away completely yet, and it had been days since they'd really made out, so Makoto's kiss got a little more passionate than he'd intended. With reluctance, he pulled away, exhaling heavy next to Rin's mouth.

"Wow," Rin said low in his throat, sliding his hands around Makoto's waist. "Something on your mind?"

Makoto knew he should pull away -- Rin would tug him closer and then he would _notice_ \-- but he couldn't. He _wanted_ Rin to notice. He kissed Rin again, softer this time. "Rin," he murmured.

"Tell me you want to do it," Rin whispered against his lips. "I've tried to be good, but I--"

Makoto reached for Rin's right hand and moved it down. "Please stop being good." 

Rin grabbed Makoto's butt with his full palm, hard, fingers sinking deep into Makoto's flesh. "How bad can I be?"

Makoto kissed him, long and deep, feeling like he wanted to make up for every kiss this week that hadn't gotten this far. Rin had both hands on his ass now, making him rub up against Rin's hip, and Makoto was so hard he could practically feel his dick creaking from so much tension. He was having trouble remembering to breathe. "I'm the one--" he began, but Rin put his hand on Makoto's dick and Makoto's sentence died at the end of a gasp. _I'm the one who's going to be bad tonight._

Rin's hand felt so much better than Makoto's that he had to quickly muffle a moan against Rin's face. "You're this wet already?" Rin whispered, rubbing his palm against the head of Makoto's dick. "Were you being naughty all by yourself?"

"Rin," Makoto whined, pushing against his hand.

"I wish I could've walked in on you," Rin murmured, running his knuckles up the underside of Makoto's cock.

"You almost did," Makoto said, flushing. He fumbled at Rin's belt but couldn't focus with Rin touching him. "Take these off--"

Rin kissed him. "Good idea."

Makoto tugged Rin back towards where the lube and condoms waited on the bedside table -- while Rin undid his belt and trousers. Makoto sat down on the edge of the bed with Rin standing in front of him, pushed Rin's trousers and underwear down, and drew Rin's cock into his mouth. He'd meant to do this to make Rin hard quickly, the way Rin liked it, but Rin was already so hard Makoto's belly quivered and his mouth began to water as he worked his tongue over Rin's dick.

Rin put one hand in Makoto's hair and bit into his other fist as Makoto took him deeper in, and not for the first time Makoto wished they lived in a remote cabin somewhere so he could hear the noises Rin had to muffle. He didn't have time to dwell on fantasies of idyllic forst living, though; he wanted Rin's cock inside of him so badly he was already moving his hips in anticipation. He groped blindly for the lube on the bedside table and grabbed it on the third try.

"Put your dick in me," he rasped, leaning back to look up at Rin's face as he shoved the lube at Rin's chest. He'd been afraid Rin wouldn't want to, but he needn't have worried. Rin pushed him onto his back, slicked up his fingers and had two of them in Makoto's ass so fast Makoto had to wonder if Rin too had been waiting for this without saying anything.

He took a condom from the bedside table and ripped it open, hands shaking, teeth clenched on gasps as Rin fingered him at a quick, surefire pace Makoto hoped matched how he was going to fuck. One day he'd ask Rin to just finger him like this until he came, but not tonight. "Let me put the condom on you," he said, bracing for the strange empty feeling when Rin's fingers withdrew. He didn't pay it much mind: he'd have something even nicer in him soon.

Makoto slid the condom down on Rin's cock and sucked the head in right through the condom, made his tongue hard and flicked it against the sensitive spot at the rim until Rin gasped for him to stop. Rin exhaled loudly and harshly, a quiet moan at the end of that long breath, and then he pushed Makoto down, climbed onto the bed after him, and lowered himself between Makoto's open legs. He lifted Makoto's thigh up and back with one hand, his fingers still slick with lube. His cock nudged against Makoto's balls, but Rin didn't bring his other hand down yet; he put his fingertips to Makoto's lips, then caressed his face. "Are you sure?"

"Make love to me," Makoto breathed.

"That sounds more like you," Rin said, pressing a soft kiss to Makoto's earlobe. "Lift your hips more." He took his time working his dick into Makoto, then grabbed his other thigh and lifted it too so Makoto was completely exposed.

The pace Rin set was exactly what Makoto had been hoping for, and at first Makoto just watched him through half-lidded eyes, watched Rin's mouth tighten, his brow furrow, his lips part as he exhaled mid-thrust. Then he started feeling the force of Rin's thrusts reverberate through his lower belly, just like he'd imagined, and he put one hand on his cock, making a lazy thumb-forefinger circle just to keep a little bit of pressure on it.

"Deeper, Rin," Makoto murmured, using his upper back to push off the bed and farther onto Rin's cock. Rin bit his lip and got even closer, searching Makoto's face for a reaction. Makoto closed his eyes and threw his head back, exhaling noisily through his open mouth, and Rin picked up the pace again. This depth and angle were perfect, and Makoto made a tight fist around his cock, feeling the tension reach a tipping point.

Rin rolled his hips, moving faster, making him writhe, wrenching Makoto's release from him before he realised it or was ready for it. He moaned through lips pressed tightly together and rocked up into Rin as he came in thick, heavy spurts that landed somewhere Makoto couldn't see or feel, and he was unable to keep quiet. His scream died behind clenched teeth but came out as a desperate keening that clouded Rin's eyes. "Makoto--" he choked out. His head fell forward, his hips started to snap quicker, and his fingers on Makoto's lower thighs tightened over and over as Rin rode it out, gasping, his cock pulsing against Makoto's insides, making Makoto wish his orgasm would've waited at least this long.

After disentangling from each other, they lay on their sides, face to face, hands touching, shaky breaths steadying as their eyes kept meeting, sliding away, and meeting again as their smiles returned. Makoto felt such a deep, powerful emotional connection to Rin in this moment that it was all he could do not to start tearing up.

As reality filtered back in with the sound of Makoto's neighbours returning from a shopping trip -- plastic bags rustling and beer cans clinking in anticipation of a Friday night in -- a trickle of shame began to dilute the afterglow. He couldn't believe how forceful he had been with Rin just now. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done anything so selfish -- he'd been so focussed on what he wanted that he had simply demanded it, without checking if Rin minded.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked, stroking Makoto's upper arm with the backs of his knuckles, concern in his eyes.

"I'm feeling kind of self-conscious," Makoto admitted. "I was way too pushy. I'm sorry."

Rin leaned over to kiss his shoulder. "Don't say that. I enjoyed that part the most."

"It's so embarrassing," Makoto said. Well, he hadn't felt embarrassed _at the time_ , but still.

"Think of it this way," Rin suggested, lying back down. "Nothing will ever be more embarrassing than you asking me if I needed to poop that first time."

Makoto blushed. "Will you ever stop teasing me about that?"

Rin's eyes filled with mischief. "Not even when we're eighty."

Makoto was about to say that he'd be the happiest person alive if they were still together when they were eighty, but stopped himself. He'd been demanding enough for one day; the last thing he wanted was for Rin to think he was being needy.

Much, much later in the evening -- after round three, after showering, after Rin fell asleep -- Makoto realised that Hanamiya hadn't crossed his mind even once.

*

Before anyone knew it, the time for Rin's Olympic tryout had come. As it turned out, Aomine was having a tryout of his own -- for a semi-pro basketball team in nearby Shizuoka. Earlier in the week, at work, Kagami had suggested they have a beach barbecue party to see Rin and Aomine off with good luck. 

It had been so off-the-cuff that if Makoto hadn't known any better, he'd have thought that Kagami and Aomine's break-up had lasted for days instead of years. And yet, the change in Kagami was obvious. Makoto had thought him the kind of person who rarely smiled -- and when he did, it was to hide his feelings, but he'd been wrong. Kagami had one of those smiles that made the world feel like a better place, and these days he wore it a lot.

Makoto supposed he shouldn't have been so surprised. If he and Rin were to break up, he'd probably rarely feel like smiling for a long time afterwards. Just thinking about it made him want to find Rin and hug him until he got flustered and made Makoto stop. Anyway, Makoto was glad that whatever had happened after the explosion had helped Aomine and Kagami find their way back to each other.

He had thought a barbecue party was a great idea, but then had to shamefacedly explain that he wasn't to be trusted around food preparation. So Kagami had given him a list and put him in charge of buying the food and bringing it to the beach. 

The town had a special area by one set of steps that led to the beach proper where several public-use raised firepits stood in a wide semicircle. You had to reserve one in advance and then pay an attendant to bring out the actual metal grill to cover the pit. Without it, the most you could do was bake some yams or potatoes right in the coals, at least until a caretaker caught you and chased you away.

Makoto and Rin approached the firepits with shopping bags full of food: cabbage, baby corn, onions, carrots, beef, pork loin, three kinds of sausage, and bacon. Kagami had laid out several cutting boards on a picnic table next to their rented firepit. "You two get the fire going while I cut these up for the grill. Oh, and we'll need to get some drinks too -- Aomine forgot to buy them."

"Where is he?" Rin asked.

"He went to get Satsuki and Riko from the train station," Kagami said. "I think you guys met them at the flower viewing party."

"Satsuki -- is that the same one Haruno-senpai doesn't get along with?" Rin asked. Makoto glanced at Kagami, also curious: he'd heard both names but only vaguely remembered Kagami introducing Riko-san, whose surname was Aizu or Aino or something like that.

"What?" Kagami asked with a frown. "Oh, yeah. Well. Sakura stole Satsuki's girlfriend. It's ancient history, though. I think it's more of a principle thing these days."

Rin looked delighted. "I can't wait to ask Haruno-senpai about this. She teases me every day about," -- he glanced at Makoto and turned crimson -- "uh, m-my hair!"

"Why?" Makoto asked, puzzled. "Your hair is perfect. Especially when you tie it back like this."

Rin punched his arm. "Shut up," he said. "Let's get the fire started."

"It's my job to put them out, you know," Makoto said with a smile.

The two of them got the coals going while Kagami chopped vegetables and sliced meat looking like a five star chef .

"Are you sure we should be calling this a seeing-off party?" Rin asked quietly. "What if one of us fails? What if we both fail?"

"You won't fail," Makoto said. He kept getting distracted from fanning the coals and trying to follow Kagami's movements. It looked so _easy_ when other people did it. Why couldn't Makoto?

"What if I do?"

"Then there's always next year. And we'll have another party if it comes to that." 

They both went quiet for a while. Another group of people started preparations at the grill next to theirs: they had a black Labrador puppy with them who kept running over to sniff Kagami's knees. Kagami's work slowed down as he kept glancing in the puppy's direction, his whole demeanor distrustful.

"Part of me wishes I would fail," Rin said as the coals started to turn white.

"Rin, don't say that!" Makoto exclaimed. He was so startled he lowered his fan so far down it almost caught fire. "Why would you wish for such a thing?" 

"Because I want to stay here with you," Rin said as Makoto made sure the fan wasn't smoking. "There's so much we haven't done--"

"I feel that way too," Makoto said. "That there's a lot we haven't done, I mean," he amended. "But Olympic swimming isn't a lifelong career, Rin. We'll have plenty of time when you've had enough."

"What if you get--" Rin's eyes flashed with pain, and he turned away. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't--. I-- I'll just go get those beers, okay?"

Makoto wanted to hold him back, but it was clearly one of those times Rin just needed to be by himself for a bit. He was glad that they'd started to talk about their impending separation, though. He wanted to reassure Rin, yes, but he also wanted Rin to reassure him. That he'd come home when he could. That he wouldn't just forget this sleepy little town and his mostly boring police box job once he took even a single step up a world-class podium. Yet he didn't want Rin to feel like he was being lured back into languid small-town life every time he spoke to Makoto.

Makoto looked down at the pit. "Lieutenant," he called. "The coals are ready."

Kagami glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "Don't call me that when we're just out having fun," he said. "I'm not good with formal stuff like that. Kagami is fine."

Makoto blushed, nodded, and lifted the grill onto the firepit.

No sooner were the vegetables on the grill than Aomine popped up from heaven knew where.

"Give me some meat," he told Kagami, who smacked him with the end of the towel hanging from one shoulder.

"It's not time yet. Meat cooks much quicker than vegetables, so you have to wait."

"Who comes to a barbecue party for vegetables? I don't want any vegetables," Aomine complained.

"Yes, you do. You love vegetables."

Aomine whispered something to him, and Kagami laughed in a way that was obviously not meant for anyone but Aomine, so Makoto quietly edged away from the grill and went to join Rin by the beer vending machine nearby.

"See, those guys have the right idea," a red-headed teenage girl was saying to a bespectacled older boy dressed in old-fashioned hakama. "Let the weak get full on vegetables and save the meat for the strong. Just like my momma always taught me."

"I really don't think that's what's going on over there," the boy said with the air of a patient older brother who constantly had to put up with outrageous things his sister said. "They're just normal people, Kagura-chan."

"Gin-chan, Shinpachi called me an alien again, can I break his glasses?"

"Simmer down, you brats," said a deep voice behind Makoto. "I'm trying to decide which beer to get, and I only have three hundred yen."

"Hey," Rin said into his ear, his hand briefly squeezing Makoto's. "I'm sorry about before."

Makoto turned to him and smiled. "You don't have anything to be sorry about," he said. "Did you decide on drinks?"

They rejoined the party a bit later with armfuls of canned beer, though Makoto also brought some juice for Yachiru, who had in the meantime made fast friends with the Labrador puppy and was keeping it occupied enough for Kagami not to look half-panicked.

While they'd been off getting drinks, almost everyone else had arrived. Aomine's neighbour Kirigakure-san brought a huge bottle of sake, and Haruno-san and her wife brought kiritanpo. 

"Tachibana," called Tatsumi, waving at him cheerfully from Kagami's side. She wore an apron similar to Kagami's, but hers had a white fluffy dog on the front instead of a baby tiger.

"I'm glad you made it, Tatsumi-san," Makoto said, smiling. She hadn't been sure she would be free when Kagami had invited her.

"This is Murata Tetsuko," Tatsumi said, nodding to a slim woman about their age with a shock of steel-blue hair over a red headband. "She's my--"

"I'm a swordsmith, nice to meet you!" Murata cut in, her face turning pink.

"It's our first time out together as a couple," Tatsumi whispered, standing on her tiptoes. "Be nice."

"It's very nice to meet you as well," Makoto said, smiling. Murata gave him a look that seemed suspicious, but he could tell she was just shy. "My name is Tachibana; I work at the firehouse with Tatsumi-san."

Rin sidled up to Makoto. "A swordsmith, huh?" he asked. "I'm Matsuoka."

"You're a cop," Murata said, sizing him up.

"How did you--" Rin began, but then Yachiru shrieked, "Momma, it's the sweet shop man!"

Haru walked up the curved path from the parking lot, bearing two covered glass trays. "I brought cupcakes," he said. "Am I late?"

"You're just in time," Rin and Makoto said together and grinned at each other.

*

"I'm still so full," Rin said, rubbing his stomach as they stood on the beach looking out to the darkening sea.

"Will you be okay?" Makoto asked. Rin of all people should've known not to go swimming so soon after eating. Not because of any risk of drowning -- even Makoto knew that was just an old folks' tale -- but just because it could feel really uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Rin said. He looked around furtively and grabbed Makoto's hand. "Let's walk to the pier."

They'd planned to watch the sunset together after the party, but Rin and Haru had gotten caught up in a who-can-swim-out-to-that-buoy-faster competition, and Makoto had made the mistake of sitting down to drink with Kirigakure-san. She was the type to tell outlandish stories when she drank, but they were really interesting stories. Makoto knew that he was too gullible for his own good but part of him really wanted to believe all that stuff about armies of exorcists fighting demons regular people couldn't see.

A walk along the shoreline was just as nice, though. Makoto held Rin's hand tightly: there was something special about walking while holding hands, like quietly letting the world know that they were together. As they reached the pier, Rin nudged Makoto with his elbow and nodded in the direction of the beachfront.

Kagami and Aomine sat side by side on the sand just behind the tideline. Aomine's head rested on Kagami's shoulder. They looked so comfortable, like neither one belonged anyplace else. Makoto remembered watching, earlier, as Kagami had been about to eat the last piece of grilled bacon but then caught Aomine's forlorn stare and fed it to him instead. He'd worn a look of such fondness that it reminded Makoto of his parents -- these two had the same unshakable kind of vibe around them now that they were back together. It made him feel a little envious, and he wasn't sure why. He and Rin just needed time to build the same kind of relationship, didn't they?

"I want what they've got," Rin said, echoing Makoto's thoughts. 

"Until we're eighty?" Makoto asked timidly.

Rin stepped a little closer. "So that _was_ what got you all twisty the other night."

Makoto rubbed his nose, embarrassed. "You noticed, huh." He turned to Rin. "I don't mean--"

"I know you're trying to hold back because you think telling me your feelings is going to hold _me_ back from what I want to do," Rin said. "But you're wrong." He took a deep breath. "You know how I said part of me wants to fail the tryout?"

Makoto met Rin's eyes. "I still really wish you wouldn't say such things."

"That same part of me wants you to tell me to stay," Rin said. "It thinks that if you don't try to stop me, it's proof you don't really love me. That it's proof you don't care that you won't see me for weeks on end. That now that we've been together for a while, you've become disillusioned with me and can't wait for me to leave already. That you secretly wish to go back to being friends because I'm not what you imagined."

Makoto's eyes were instantly full of tears. "You're _everything_ I imagined," he said. "I'm sorry that I made you feel that way, I never meant to..."

"But you didn't," Rin said. "You didn't do a thing to make me feel like this, Makoto. I _know_ that you don't actually think any of those things. I'm just afraid of losing you. Fear takes weird shapes sometimes, I guess."

"You don't have to be afraid," Makoto said, taking both his hands and pulling him close. He didn't even care who saw them. 

He was so ashamed of himself for not considering that Rin too had the kinds of doubts and fears that worried Makoto. That was so stupid of him. He'd always known how sensitive Rin was, how easily his feelings bruised. Makoto had even prided himself on noticing before Haru did that the tough attitude Rin showed to everyone was just to keep him from getting hurt. But lately he'd been too concerned with his own feelings.

"I want to make you happy," Makoto said, peering into Rin's face. Rin stood looking back up at him, his eyes wide and shiny. "If you hate having to leave me behind so much, then I'll quit my job and come with you."

Tears spilled from both of Rin's eyes. "Dummy," he said after a shaky intake of breath. "I'd never want you to do that. You love it here, you told me so yourself even before we started dating."

"I won't love it if I'm here while knowing you're somewhere feeling lonely or unhappy," Makoto said, putting his arms around Rin.

Rin pressed his nose against the crook of Makoto's neck. "I don't want you to sacrifice anything for me."

"I feel the same way," Makoto said, tightening his hold on Rin. "I want you to live how you want."

Rin fidgeted. "Like I should have my own life and you should have yours?"

Makoto thought about it. "No, I don't think I like the sound of that. I mean, we both already have our own lives. But just because you're not involved in some parts of my life doesn't mean you're not welcome there."

"Good," Rin mumbled against Makoto's t-shirt collar. "That's how I feel too. Whoever came up with that whole 'separate lives' nonsense has obviously never been in love before."

"Get a room, you on the pier!" Aomine shouted from below. 

"We've been spotted," Rin said. He put his arms around Makoto's waist and held him fast. "Look who's talking!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Makoto blushed. True, it was already pretty dark and hardly anyone was around, but they _were_ hugging in public, technically. Still, he didn't want to let go of Rin, so he didn't.

"Let's stay like this until we're eighty," Rin said.

Makoto smiled into his hair. "We'll starve to death up here before we turn eighty."

Rin snorted. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I think I left it in my bed. Want to come help me look?"

"Are you sure it's not in those bushes down there?"

Makoto laughed. "Rin!"

Rin pulled away, grabbed his hand, and started back towards the parking lot. 

Makoto followed without hesitation.

[to be concluded]


	25. Chapter 25

8 months later

**Diet member's son arrested, organised crime ties revealed**

_TOKYO -- Hanamiya Makoto, son of Diet member Hanamiya Yoshihiro, was arrested last night on multiple charges ranging from violations of various organised crime exclusion ordinances to extortion._

_Police sources said the arrest came as a result of an investigation spanning many months and involving local forces from all over the country. The task force was formed after several victims from separate districts came forward claiming that Hanamiya had allegedly used false pretenses to lure them into situations where he could record them in flagrante. Once police assigned detectives to the case, it rapidly became clear that they were dealing with more than what had already been alleged._

_At this moment it is uncertain whether the courts will attempt to prosecute based on the recently formalised ruling against so-called revenge pornography, which includes provisions for cases in which victims were deceived as to the nature of the relationship._

_A confidential source said officers who raided Hanamiya's Setagaya home also found chemical laboratory equipment and evidence of illegal substances, though the nature of the substances or how, if at all, they relate to Hanamiya's alleged activities is unclear._

_The office of Hanamiya Yoshihiro could not be reached for comment._

5 years after that

**Matsuoka Rin to marry in private beachside ceremony**

_SHIZUOKA -- Olympic gold medalist Matsuoka Rin and his longtime partner Tachibana Makoto, a firefighter from Shizuoka Prefecture, are getting married this weekend._

_The pair will register their marriage at an undisclosed municipal government office on Friday and spend the next two days celebrating with family and friends at a local beachfront hot spring resort. The resort has a notice on their website that it will be closed for a private event for the duration of the weekend. Cached versions of the homepage suggest that this notice was in place as long as four months ago._

_In an official statement relayed through Matsuoka's management, he said, "We have waited many years for this day and we're both very happy that we're finally able to start a new life together as a family."_

_Matsuoka burst onto the Olympic swimming stage four years ago, when he won silver in the men's 200m butterfly in Tokyo, but it was several months later, after a candid interview with an Australian tabloid got translated on a major Japanese news portal, that he captured hearts nationwide. In the interview, Matsuoka spoke beautifully and at length about the sacrifices his mother made to allow him to pursue his dream of swimming competitively. For a few weeks following the publication, Matsuoka's name was one of the top searched phrases on various social media sites._

_His surprise silver four years ago turned out to be a mere warm-up for taking the topmost podium twice for butterfly events in Paris this past summer, and since then the media attention has only increased. Just as any young and attractive public figure, Matsuoka's got quite a following, so how are his fans taking the news of his upcoming wedding?_

_"He made it clear from the earliest interviews that he was happy in a committed relationship, and now he is taking another step to reaffirm that commitment," said Chiyo Sakura, the president of Matsuoka's official fan club. "So as his fans, we can only wish both of them the best and hope that their mutual feelings continue sustaining and uplifting our favourite athlete."_

_Matsuoka's future husband, who grew up together with Matsuoka in a small town near Tottori City, has frequently been seen with Matsuoka's mother and sister at Matsuoka's competitive events. He has consistently declined interview requests and is notoriously camera-shy._

_The couple plan to spend their honeymoon on the Gold Coast in Australia._

a few weeks later

"...hereby convey and warrant to grantees Aomine Daiki and Kagami Taiga, unmarried individuals--" Kagami read. "Why'd they have to specify we're not married?"

Aomine, who was lying on the couch with his head in Kagami's lap and icing his knee like the coach ordered (even though he thought it was stupid), lifted his eyebrows and met Kagami's eyes. "Does it matter?"

Kagami pinched Aomine's nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I don't like it. It's the warranty deed to our house. Which we own together. So what if we're not married?"

"Exactly, who cares? Don't get worked up about it," Aomine squeaked.

Kagami snorted. "I'm not getting worked up," he said, releasing Aomine's nose. "It just doesn't make any sense. What if only one of our names was on the deed? Would it still say 'unmarried individual'?"

"It's probably something left over from the dark ages, back when people got judged for living together without getting married," Aomine said. And then it occurred to him that he was literally in the middle of a perfect opportunity, yet he lay here watching it go by like the world's biggest doofus.

"Wait here," he said, sitting up swiftly. He put the ice pack down next to Kagami, got up using his arms for leverage, and hobbled to the front entrance, where he'd abandoned his gym bag last night.

"Don't go walking on that knee!" Kagami yelled after him. "What's gotten into you?"

Aomine had carried the little ring box with him ever since he'd bought it when the two of them went to Paris to cheer Matsuoka on three months ago. It had used up the last of Kagami's paid time off but it had been worth it. They'd been living out of boxes while the new house had undergone the final safety and building code inspections, and it had been so nice to spend a week in a hotel with no housework or packing or clashing schedules. Also, thick walls between guest rooms.

Aomine had been saving up to go ring shopping for years. So one afternoon, as Kagami napped after eating way too many dishes with unpronounceable names, he'd finally done it, with Gou's help. Gou, who now worked as her brother's public relations manager and spoke six languages including French, was easily enough bribed with a photo of the Shizuoka Sand Cats muscle-posing in tight fitting tank tops at a sponsored beer festival last summer.

Since that day, he had kept the ring -- a simple titanium band dotted with a line of round-cut rubies -- in a secret pocket of his gym bag. He told himself that he was waiting to figure out how to give it to Kagami without the whole thing turning into a huge embarrassing spectacle. Okay, so maybe he was a little nervous. He was pretty sure Kagami would say yes, but what if he didn't?

Swallowing unnecessarily -- his throat had suddenly gone dry -- Aomine limped back into the living room and stopped just short of the couch, where Kagami sat frowning in the general direction of Aomine's left knee. Aomine sighed and sat down a few feet away from Kagami, the ring box clutched in his fist. 

He cleared his throat and nodded at the ice pack lying next to Kagami's thigh. "Kiyoshi would passive-aggressively smile me to death if I got on one knee, so here." He opened the mildly sweaty box and proffered it to Kagami. "If you don't like that paper saying we're unmarried individuals then let's be married individuals."

Kagami, who had opened his mouth to say something, slowly closed it. He stared at the box sitting on top of Aomine's palm as though hypnotised, then blinked rapidly several times and reached in between the couch cushions. The ice pack slipped into the gap but Kagami paid it no mind; he extracted an identical-looking box, opened it, and held it out.

"I can't believe you just beat me to this, and I bet you weren't even trying," he said.

Aomine stared at it in bewilderment. The same ring, only with deep blue sapphires. He'd seen it at the store he'd gone to. His eyes narrowed. "Gou said this would be the perfect one, didn't she?"

Kagami did a double take. "How'd you know?"

"Look at yours."

Kagami obeyed, his eyes going wide as soon as he took a closer look. "Did she--?"

Aomine nodded. "She did."

Kagami snickered, then bit his lip. "So, um." He put his ring box on top of Aomine's hand, took the other one, and looked into Aomine's eyes. "Let's get married."

Heat rose up Aomine's neck. "You saying you're gonna love me forever?"

Kagami's eyes grew a bit shinier. "I've been saying that from the start."

Aomine closed his fingers around the ring box -- the one with _his_ ring in it -- and leaned over to kiss Kagami, his free hand on Kagami's shoulder. "Let me put it on you," he murmured against Kagami's mouth.

"Wait, what size did you get it in?" Kagami sounded suspicious. "Ring finger or dick?"

Aomine laughed. "Idiot." _Damn, I wish I'd thought of that._ "Give me your hand," he said. "Wait, which hand does it go on?"

"This one," Kagami said, picking up Aomine's left hand and casually sliding the ring on. It took a little extra push to get it past the lower knuckle.

"Illegal hand use," Aomine complained, grabbing Kagami's left hand. "I was gonna do that." The ring he'd gotten for Kagami's went on a little tighter than he'd expected.

They kissed again, longer this time, longer and slower; everything was the same it had been fifteen minutes ago, but at the same time, everything had changed. Aomine had never thought he would _want_ to get married. He'd never seen the point: living together was basically the same thing, and if it didn't work out, you didn't need to go through messy legal bullshit. But Kagami was special. He wanted to tie his life to Kagami's with more than words and good intentions.

Kagami's face was a little damp when they pulled apart, and Aomine tugged him closer until Kagami half-lay against his chest and shoulder.

"I'm not famous enough to rent out Pleasant Dreams, though," Aomine said, thinking back to Matsuoka's wedding. "And I'm pretty sure we can't afford it."

"Let's figure out the guest list, and then we'll see what we can afford," Kagami said. "My old man's been nagging me to marry you for a century; I'll bet if I said I wanted to get married on the Moon, he'd make it happen."

Aomine grinned. "Space suit wedding, huh?" He thought back to Matsuoka's wedding again, the two of them all pretty in their tailored white suits, like an old-timey portrait straight out of a silent movie or something. Then he thought of Kagami in a white dress with frothy lace underskirts, lifted up over his bare ass, bright red garters down his thighs to sheer stockings...

Kagami waved a hand in front of his face. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I can't decide if I want to fuck you in your wedding dress or if I want you to fuck me in my wedding dress. Or fuck you in my wedding dress..."

Kagami stretched and then settled against Aomine's side. "Does one of us have to wear a dress?"

"Well, no, but you'd look hot in one. So would I."

"Just looking hot isn't a good reason, or you might as well go naked."

Aomine raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I look hot naked?"

Kagami sat back up and fixed him with a stare. "I'm saying there's nothing hotter than you naked."

Whenever Aomine fished for a compliment, Kagami always gave him a supersized one. Like he _wanted_ Aomine to have a heart attack. "That kind of flattery will get you nowhere," he said. "Except my pants."

"Literally anything will get me into your pants," Kagami pointed out.

"That's true." Aomine grinned and started to tug the drawstring on his shorts loose.

Kagami smiled. "I'll help you into the bedroom, come on. Don't put weight on your knee."

"But we haven't done it on the couch yet," Aomine whined.

"We just put the couch up this morning," Kagami said, a little indignant.

"My point exactly. no time like right this second."

"Shut up. Last time we did it on the couch, we fell off. What if your knee gets worse?"

"I'm not an old man, you know."

"You're no spring chicken either; you can't just walk off an injury. So don't argue with me and let's fuck in the bedroom." Kagami lifted him in a fireman's carry before Aomine could react. "Up we go."

"I'm fine! Even the doc said I can still take a licking and keep on ticking," Aomine insisted, though it was difficult to sound convincing while practically draped across Kagami's shoulders like a goddamn scarf.

Kagami squeezed his butt. "I'll show you a licking."

"Pretty sure this is _not_ how you show off your trophy husband," Aomine muttered darkly as they made their way towards the bedroom.

Outside the living room window, down the hill and by the water, the tide rolled in and drenched the shore.

[the end]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all she wrote!! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came along with me on this mad adventure -- I'm so grateful for all the feedback! ♥♥♥ Sorry I kinda staggered with the regular updates in the end there. Work suddenly got ridiculously busy and fanfic alone wasn't cutting it for stress relief. ^^
> 
> I'm off to Japan for a vacation this weekend, and if you like my AoKaga, then I'll be back on AoKaga day (May 10) with a new crossover AU for them (it will be posted as a work in progress). As for Makorins, well, I'll just have to see what happens. :D


End file.
